Sweet Dreams
by christianneo12
Summary: The Generation of Miracles took the nation by storm, winning at whatever cost. After graduating from high school, they went on with their lives and got jobs. A group of prodigies suddenly appear with their own ambitions to become number one in Japan. Teik
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Two children around the age of six and eight ran through the shadow infested streets late at night away from the bright lights and warm beds of their homes. It was in the middle of winter, snow covered the ground, crunching beneath their feet as they ran and you could see their breath in the cold air.

One of the children was a six year old little girl named Rin Usami, a foot or so smaller than the boy. She had midnight black hair that was short like a boy's but long enough to touch her shoulders. Her eyes were a silver, grey ash color with a hint of neon bright blue around the edges of her pupils like little flecks. She wore a pair of black running shorts despite the cold and a white hoodie that matched her black and white basketball shoes.

The boy that ran ahead of the Rin had a happy, carefree air about him that would make anyone feel even a little bit calmer or happier being next to him. He had dark red hair and eyes that seemed to flicker as if they were made of fire. He was a foot taller than the little girl and was fastest of the two. His eyebrows were narrowed in determination as the two raced down the sidewalk, their legs and arms pumping hard in unison. The boy wore black sweat pants with a red line down each side, a pair of basketball shoes, and a similar hoodie to the girls.

A delighted smile came to his lips as he slowed several feet away from a cage enclosed basketball court in the snow covered park. The concrete ground of the court had been shoveled away and a group of boys, some bigger than the boy, were playing a game two against two with the fifth acting as referee. The boy smiled over his shoulder at Rin, "Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone."

The boy led her towards the court, his hand closing around hers and making her blush. She didn't really know how she got into this mess. One moment, she was shooting her own basketball into the hoop in her driveway and the next moment, the boy appeared and dragged her along with him here. As she walked behind him toward the group of boys, she couldn't help but be nervous. The boy in front of her didn't know she was a girl telling by the look of how he acted around her but she was hoping she wouldn't have to say anything. Her hair was short enough to pass for a boy but she was still nervous.

The group of boys stopped playing at the sight of the redhead, "Oi, Akira! Where have you been? Your late again." shouted a boy a little taller than the redhead in front of Rin. To her surprise when she got a better look at the group, the boy that had spoken had dark blue hair; another had silver; a smaller boy had beige hair; one had yellow; and another a milky brown.

The boy that had brought her along, apparently named Akira, smiled and jutted his thumb over his shoulder at Rin, "I picked up a little luggage along the way."

Five heads turned to look at Rin and she bowed her head, wanting to disappear. Akira glanced back at her a smiled, taking her hand again, "He's new to the neighborhood so I thought I'd bring him along."

The boy with dark blue hair laughed and came towards the fence that separated the two from the court, "Well, you always were too kind for your own sake Akira. I'm Shou Kagura. Have you ever played basketball before?" he asked, holding the basketball under his arm and looking over Rin in a judging way. She nodded and he smirked, "Let me rephrase: have you ever played basketball on a team before?" Rin looked down at her feet making Shou's smirk fade into a scowl and he threw the ball over his head to the beige haired boy on the other side of the court and started to walk away, "We have no need for amateurs. Don't get in my way." he growled.

Akira sighed and ran a hand through his red hair, "Don't mind him. That's his way of welcoming others." he smiled reassuringly but Rin wasn't too sure. One moment Shou seemed decent enough and the next he was being a jerk. She doubted she would become very good friends with him. Akira took her hand and led her into the court anyways and the other boys gathered around the two besides Shou who chose to completely ignore them.

"Let me introduce everyone. This is Rin Takumi. I'm Akira Shiomi-" Akira started but was cut off almost immediately as a hand pushed him away and was replaced by a curious, tall boy with silver hair and misty teal eyes like a ghost, "I'm Misaki Izumi. It's nice to meet you Rin-chin."

Before Rin could say anything else, the boy with milky brown hair interrupted and introduced himself as Takashi Ashira followed by the blonde(Haru Shimizu) and the beige haired boy(Shiro Tachibana).

Akira grinned, "So, let's play three-on-three, Shou being referee. Blue team will be Takashi, Haru, and Misaki. Rin will be on Red with Shiro and me. Rin was about to step up and tell everyone she didn't want to play, she just wanted to go home out of this freezing cold weather but before she could, the group was already splitting off and getting ready from their short game. Rin could only follow.

Akira threw something to her and she just barely caught it. Her fingers moved across the red fabric in her hand, realizing it was an armband. She quietly slipped it on and looked around at the others, seeing they had there own armbands on to mark which team they were on. She felt a smile tug at her lips as Akira called for them to get ready.

They started with the tip-off and the game started full speed ahead. Rin wasn't able to make a single point but she was able to assist somewhat. They lost but it had been a lot of fun. She smiled and wiped the sweat off her forehead, walking at the back of the group of boys as they walked down the sidewalk. Misaki stood beside her, eating through the fourth bag of chips that night. The group talked and laughed as they walked before splitting their separate ways to go home with the promise to meet up tommorow. Those short two years of playing basketball with the group of boys were the best she ever had but it all ended in the blink of an eye all because of one little mistake...

* * *

Yeah, very short chapter, sorry. This is my first fanfiction so go easy on me. ^^ Basically, this story is about the next generation of GoM, of course they'll be given a different name but yeah, you get the point.

I would very much appreciate it if you could leave a review to tell me what you think and maybe give me a few tips on what to improve on. Thank you for reading and I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. Think of this chapter as an introduction or preview.

Oº°'¨ Sweet Dreams ¨'°ºO


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Cherry blossoms gently blew in the warm breeze along the red brick path way of Teikō Junior High. Students walked alone or in small groups chatting and laughing with old friends from middle school. Older students stood with flyers and brochures in front of tables lining the red brick walkway trying to get new students to join their clubs. Among the students walked Rin Komatsu, wearing the traditional male Teikō uniform with her nose stuck in a pale, old looking book while she nibbled on a pocky stick. It had been six years since that cold winters night in the snow on the basketball court. Four years since she had moved away to America. One week since she had moved back to Japan and enrolled as a student at Teikō.

The whole reason why she came back to Japan was to play basketball without her parents getting onto her case about it. They were fine with it they just didn't like it. As the only daughter of the Komatsu family, she faced the expectations to become a proper young lady they could marry off when she came of age and if basketball interfered with that, well, she didn't want to think about what would happen. Rin had convinced them to let her come live in Japan under her the supervision of her cousin and his roommate. Now, here she was attending her dream school disguised as a boy in order to play the exact thing her parents told her not to: basketball. If they knew their daughter was cross-dressing as a boy, they would drag her right back home so she made a deal with her cousin to not tell in exchange for her doing the housework and grocery shopping. It was a small price to pay in order to live the life she wanted.

Short, jet black hair framed her slightly pale face, lightly slicked back besides a few short strands of hair hanging loosely into her eyes. Her grey ash colored eyes were the same as four years before with neon bright blue around the edges of her pupils like little flecks of pixie dust. They were warm and gentle like a summer breeze. She had grown taller but was still small for her age, about four foot seven now with a small, thin build. The dark teal blue collared shirt fit her perfectly accompanied by the slick black tie around her neck and a pearly white jacket and black pants.

She stopped suddenly in front of a large bulletin board in between a club table for Art and a club table for American Baseball. The bulletin board was covered in several flyers for clubs but the one that had caught her eye lay directly in the middle. The flyer was bright orange with big bold letters reading BASKETBALL at the top. She looked over it quietly, finding out tryouts were right after school in the gym. She smiled and finished her pocky stick before continuing on her way.

Rin walked through the crowd of people, chewing her second pocky stick with all her attention on the book so she didn't notice the commotion behind her. Students jumped out of the way as a blur of gold dashed up the walkway followed by a rather tall silver haired boy running after it, "Watch out!" he called out at Rin and she looked behind her just in time to see a large golden retriever bounding up to her at quick speed. What happened next happened all too quickly to process but one way or another, she wound up on her back with a dog on top of her, staring down at her and wagging its tail happily. It barked and Rin couldn't help but smile.

"Hoshi! I'm so sorry. He's normally well behaved." a boy said as he pulled the said dog off her and she stood back up, dusting the dirt off her uniform. She shook her head and smiled at him, "It's fine. No harm done."

The boy was a good two feet taller than her so she had to tilt her head up to even see him. The boy stared back down at her, misty teal colored eyes with dark blue around the center meeting hers. Long silver hair trailed down to his shoulders but unlike the hippy styled hair she had seen in America, it looked completely normal and actually sort of attractive on the tall boy.

"No it's not." he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The golden retriever barked as if in agreement, receiving a glare from his tall owner before he looked back at Rin and smiled, holding out his hand, "How about I get you some more Pocky? Deal?"

"I said it was fine but sure, deal." she smiled and shook his hand. He blinked down at his large hand as if in confusion after they let go of each other's hand but before she could ask anything, the warning bell rang out across the school grounds and he cursed under his breath. Apologizing one last time, he took off the opposite direction with the golden retriever trailing after him.

Rin blinked in confusion before shrugging, picking up her book and empty box of pocky stick and following the crowd of students heading inside. The silver haired boy seemed familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it. As she entered the school doors, she threw the pocky box over the back of her head and smiled when she heard the familiar sound of the box landing straight into the trash can a good ten feet behind her.

* * *

Rin looked up at the pale, black faded sign reading 1-C and then back down to the piece of paper in her hand telling her what classroom she was in. This was the place. Taking a deep breath, she walked in and took a seat in the fifth row, sixth seat right beside the window. Students stood around talking with their old friends catching up and laughing. She continued to stare out the window, ignoring them.

"Hey, you don't look like you're from around here. Did you just move here or something?" came a voice and she looked up to see a boy taller than her (actually, everyone was taller than her...) smiling down at her teasingly. He had very pale brown hair almost beige with blonde highlights and sort of dark but brightly colored green eyes like emeralds.

Rin nodded and his smile widened, "Great. I'm your first friend then. Do you splay any sports?" he asked and again, she nodded, "Do you not have a voice? What sport do you play?"

She sighed and shrugged, "Basketball." she said, being careful to deepen her voice so she sounded more like a guy. It was easy enough since she'd been changing her voice to sound like a guys for years.

The boy jumped to his feet and took both of her hands in his, "What position?"

Rin inched back away from him, a little confused and scared of his reaction. This school had some weird guys, "Uh...Small forward."

"Awesome! I play Shooting Guard!" he grinned and the door suddenly banged open, startling everyone. A small man in his mid thirties walked into the room, a scowl glued onto his face, "Get into your seats! Class is starting!" he growled and wrote his name, Mr. Nanaki, up on the chalk board. The boy smiled and took his seat next to her.

Mr. Nanaki introduced himself and explained the basic rules of the classroom and school. The boy next to her leaned over and whispered, "My name is Shiro Tachibana. What's yours?"

A piece of chalk hit the boy, Shiro, square in the forehead and he fell back out of his seat. Rin rolled her eyes but froze, turning to look at him again. A image flashed before her eyes and she saw a younger version of Shiro running up and down the court in the middle of winter laughing. Shiro Tachibana...?!

* * *

Yay! I finally finished this chapter ^^ It took me awhile to think of how I should write this but it all worked out in the end. Please fav, follow, or review please. I look forward to hearing from everyone!

Oº°'¨ Sweet Dreams ¨'°ºO


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The bell rang and Rin quickly escaped out the classroom, heading towards the bathroom. If Shiro was here at Teikō, what about the others? What about Akira? Questions swam through her head and she quickened her pace down the hall. She came to a stop in front of the bathrooms only to realize she couldn't use the girls bathroom like she normally would. In order to keep her gender hidden, she would have to use the boys bathroom. Rin sighed and turned towards the dark blue sign on the door on the right.

"Hey, you going to move or are you going to stand there all day?"

Rin looked over her shoulder up at two boys standing behind her. The one who had spoken ran a hand through his dark brown hair and gave her a bad look as he passed and shoved her out of the way into the second boy, who caught her, before he moved into the bathroom. He looked back at the second boy, "Come on. You coming or not?"

A sigh escaped the second boy's lips, brushing against the back of her neck and making her shiver slightly. She raised her head, looking up into a pair of deep, rich brown eyes that looked almost black at first glance because of how dark they were. Standing this close to him, she could smell the sweet scent of strawberries coming off him. Soft, short brown hair the color of chocolate milk fell in gentle waves down to the back of his neck and in into his eyes, giving him an edgy but mature look to him. She quickly jumped away, feeling her cheeks growing warm and knew she was blushing. A small smile tugged at his lips before disappearing as quickly as it came.

"Sorry…" she murmured, forgetting to deepen her voice but because she was speaking so quietly, he wouldn't be able to notice. The tall brunette gave her a small nod as he passed before pushing open the bathroom door. She stood there for several moments, watching at the door swung shut again and trying to figure out why she had this sense of déjà vu all of a sudden. Rin sighed and shook her head. For some reason, it felt like she had seen him somewhere before but she couldn't put her finger on it. Rin quietly pushed the men's bathroom door open and took a deep breath before making her way to the stalls, getting a weird look from the guys that were in there.

Rin didn't take any time to finish up and bolt out of the bathroom as if the place had been set on fire. She made it back to class before the bell rang and took her seat next to Shiro. He looked over at her and flashed the disguised girl his classic goofy grin and turned his head towards her, "Hey, I never did catch your name."

"That's because I didn't give it." she sighed and rested her head on her hand and looked out the window. She noticed two birds flying around the same tree and decided on watching them.

"That's a little harsh, isn't it?" he smiled and continued, "I gave you my name. You can at least give me yours."

"Rin Komatsu."

"Really? That's such a coincidence. I had a childhood friend named Rin Usami. Now that I think about it, he played Small Forward too and looked like you but younger. He moved away though." Shiro smiled, lost in thought. Rin watched him from the corner of her eye for a few moments before looking back out the window again. Shiro didn't know just how close he was to the truth.

The bell rang and a new teacher walked in. She was a tall woman with a very long neck and red glasses sitting upon her long, pointed nose. Brown hair pulled back tightly in a bun lay on her head but with how tightly it was tied, you could have sworn she didn't have any. She peered down at the class much like Mr. Nanaki had except her annoyance showed in her eyes, not her facial expression.

"Open your books up to page 219 and we will get started." she said though it came out more like a high pitched squeak rather than an actual voice. The class complied to her command as she continued, "My name is Ms. Red. You may call me by that and only that. Not Ms. R or Red or anything else. If you are to call me anything else, you will see just how red it will get on your report card."

A few groans were heard through the classroom but were quickly quieted by Ms. Red dragging her fingernails across the chalk board, creating a piercing screech. Class went along rather smoothly after that except when a boy who thought he was so funny, had called their teacher Red Hound under his breath. Ms. Red had barely made any motion of moving but a pair of scissors had gone sailing from the front of the room and implanted themselves in the wall behind the boy's head. A clean cut appeared on his cheek and he stayed silent the rest of class.

* * *

By time the lunch bell rang, Ms. Red had by far made it clear she wasn't one to mess around. Rin wasn't surprised when everyone rushed out of the room like a stampede when the bell rang. She sighed and took out her lunch from her school bag before following them out but more slowly. Rin didn't think Ms. Red was all that bad to be honest. She had learned a lot more in the fifty minutes with Ms. Red than in the fifty with Mr. Nanaki. It could be because Mr. Nanaki only yelled at the students the whole time. That didn't mean she wasn't a little creped out about Ms. Red though. As she passed by the teacher's desk, she could feel Ms. Red's eyes baring holes into her back and she quickened her pace just a bit.

Rin found a spot by a window and leaned back against it, running a hand through her hair. She suddenly felt eyes on her and looked around, thinking it was Ms. Red again. Instead of Ms. Red, she found a small group of about five girls looking at her. When they saw her looking at them, their faces turned red and they looked away. She sighed and grabbed her lunch, walking away to look for somewhere else to eat. Rin had fangirls at her last few schools but that didn't mean she had gotten used to them. It wasn't that it was a problem or anything since she was supposed to be acting like a normal highschool guy but it was becoming a little annoying with how they fawned over her every move.

Rin silently walked up a pair of stairs all the way to the top. A steel, metal door lay in front of her and she tried opening it. She smiled when she found it unlocked and slowly pushed it open but not without a groan of protest coming from it. Sunlight streamed out, blinding her for a few minutes. She blinked to let her eyes adjust to the light. When they did, she found herself standing on the school's roof surrounded by a black wired fence. Three figures stood at the end of the roof, their voices just a light whisper to her ears. When the metal door suddenly slammed closed behind her, all three heads suddenly turned towards her.

"Oh…It's the Pocky boy." came a familiar voice and Rin realized it belonged to the silver haired boy from before that had the golden retriever.

He gave her a lazy smile and she turned her head to the other two. She immediately recognized the brunette from in front of the bathroom that smelled like strawberries but the third boy was a stranger to her(well, stranger-er). The third boy had dark blue hair like the ocean that was short and gave him this edgy look to him.

The silver haired boy walked towards her and she blinked in confusion as he held out a plastic bag filled with what she recognized to be several boxes of Pocky of all different flavors, "Here, as promised."

"Um…Thank-you…" she murmured and took the bag quietly and watched as he suddenly smiled, his eyes twinkling like stars. A long, tanned arm suddenly reached out from behind him and took a box of Pocky from the bag before disappearing as quick as it came. She was confused for a moment before she realized it belonged to the dark navy blue haired boy who walked back to the brunette and sat down, taking one of the sticks into his mouth.

"Shou-chin, you don't have to be so mean to the little guy." the silver haired boy wined and Rin frowned at being called little. He reaching for the box back but the boy, Shou, held it behind him in between the fence and his back, continuing to eat. The brunette suddenly grabbed it and threw it back to Rin and she caught it with a little difficulty.

"Oi! Takashi, you didn't have to do that!" Shou growled up at the brunette and he shrugged.

"Because Misaki gave it to the kid as an apology." Again, she wasn't small nor was she a kid.

Rin sighed and walked forward, crouching down in front of Shou, giving him the box back plus another with a smile, "You can have it. I can't eat all of this Pocky by myself anyways." she said. Surprise showed on Shou's face and he hesitantly took the two boxes. Up close she could see his eyes: deep, navy blue eyes tipped in sky blue, making them look almost like a teal. Rin smiled and gave two more boxes to both of the two other boys each. She wished she had a camera to take a picture of their shocked and surprised expressions since she doubted they happened a lot.

Before anyone could say anything else, Rin quietly left the three boys standing there on the roof. As she left, she couldn't help but get this feeling she knew them all from somewhere. Shaking it off, she opened the door of the roof and started off down the stairs.

She walked back down the stairs to what she thought was her floor only to realize halfway down that she wasn't in the right hall. Confused, she walked up and down the stairs again, looking for her hallway and her classroom. The warning bell rang and she groaned, looking for someone to ask directions. She didn't want Ms. Red to get mad at her for being late and now, she doubted she would get there in time.

"Excuse me mister, do you need help?"

Rin turned around and found herself looking at a boy with sun touched white-gold honey colored hair with bright, amber eyes tinted brown around the edges. He was close to the same height as her so she didn't have to look up to see his face for once like she did other people. He gave her a friendly smile and she smiled back.

"I'm sorry but I am terribly lost. I'm looking for room 1-C. Do you know where that is?" she asked, a little embarrassed.

"I do. Would you like me to show you?" he asked and Rin nodded.

The boy smiled and gestured for her to follow him. He led the disguised girl down the hall and down two flights of stairs to the familiar pale sign of 1-C. Rin smiled and turned around to him, "Thank-you very much for helping me. I'm Rin by the way, Rin Komatsu."

"Well Rin, you may call me Haru. Haru Shimizu." he smiled but this time, it didn't look very friendly at all. More like a demon's smile than anything. As soon as he said his name was Haru Shimizu, a light bulb went off for Rin and she suddenly realized that he was one of the little boys from when she was a kid and not just any little boy either. Haru had not been one to smile and be all friendly and kind with others unless there was something in it for him.

"See you around." he said and left Rin standing there. She quietly made her way back into the classroom, right before the bell rang. She sat down in her seat again and went back to staring out the window. The three boys from on the roof flashed in her mind and she came to the realization that she did know them from somewhere.

The boy with long silver hair with misty teal eyes with dark blue around the center of his eyes like a ghost that had given her Pocky was Misaki Izumi, a close friend from the first time they met. The dark blue hair boy with deep, navy blue eyes tipped in sky blue, making them look almost like a teal was her longtime rival, Shou Kagura. The third boy, the boy with milk chocolate hair and rich brown eyes so dark you could mistake them as black was Takashi Ashira. That meant Shiro, Misaki, Shou, Takashi, and Haru were all at Teikō. So, where was Akira?

As she pondered this thought, she was interrupted as a ruler came smacking down on her desk, startling her. She looked up to see Ms. Red looking down at her with a steel gaze, "Page 234 please, Ms. Komatsu." she said before walking away. Rin quickly opened her textbook and started to read the page out loud. She had to find out if Akashi was a student at Teikō.

* * *

The last bell rang, signaling classes were now over. Students quickly left the classrooms and ran down the halls, eager to get home or hang out with their friends. Shiro stopped at her desk, waiting quietly as she packed up. Rin picked up her school bag and sighed, finally looking at him, "Why are you waiting for me, hm?" she asked and he smiled.

"I'm glad you asked. Have you already forgotten Basketball tryouts are in twenty minutes?" he asked, grinning at her.

"No, of course not. That still doesn't explain why you're waiting for me." she smiled, nudging him with her shoulder and his grin widened.

"I figured since we're both trying out, we could go together. Is that okay?" he asked and Rin pretended to think a moment, his expression falling at the action.

Rin rolled her eyes and took his hand, "I'm kidding. It's fine. Let's hurry before we're late. I heard they don't let anyone in after the time indicated on the flyer."

Shiro paled and bolted out of the room, Rin right behind him trying to keep up as he led her down to the first floor and out the doors. They arrived just in time and stood, bent over trying to catch their breath. The gym's doors were closed still and according to the two seniors standing in front of them, the doors would not be opened until the exact time on the flyer.

Rin smiled and stood up straight again, Shiro doing the same. The two grinned at each other and exchanged quick hand fives on getting there in time. It was crazy how after four years, the two still got along with each other easily(even though Shiro still didn't realize who she was). They had gotten into trouble together as kids and looking at Shiro now, she doubted he had grown out of his trouble making ways.

"Why if it isn't Shiro." came a cool voice and the two turned to look up at the tanned figure of Shou, looking down at them, "I never did get to tell you how much I loved my birthday present last month."

Shiro paled and jumped behind Rin who blinked in confusion, "I said I was sorry. How was I supposed to know the donkey would explode? Not a real donkey, a pinnate." he asked from behind Rin, directing the last part to her in explanation and she blinked in utter confusion. How could a pinnate explode anyhow?

"Sorry doesn't cut it. My grandmother worked hard to make that." he growled and managed to get behind Rin, lifting Shiro up to eye level by the collar of his Teikō uniform.

"Shou, put Shiro down." commanded a voice in annoyance. Shou dropped Shiro immediately and the boy landed on his butt on the solid concrete with a groan. Haru stood behind them, watching with his arms crossed over his chest. Misaki stood on his right eating a bag of chips quietly with Takashi on the other side, watching the scene play out quietly.

"Pocky? What are you doing here?" Misaki asked before putting another chip in his mouth. Rin blinked in confusion, realizing he had been reffering to her. He had called her several nicknames in the past but Pocky was a new one.

"I-" she was cut off.

"Pocky? You mean Rin here?" Shiro asked, standing and brushing dirt off his brand new uniform. Misaki nodded and Shou tried hard to hide his laugh from the nickname. Rin was starting to remember why she considered him her rival and he had to go ruin it by being a big jerk. Another reason she disliked him.

"I-" she was cut off. Again.

"Your very small to play basketball. You might get hurt." Takashi nodded, fixing Rin with his ghostly gaze. She huffed at being called small and he smiled a little. As kids, he always teased her about her height and as much as she didn't like it, she still loved him anyways.

"I-" she was cut off. Yet again.

"Yes, why are you here Rin?" Haru asked, looking at her with a really cool raised eyebrow(Rin always wanted to be able to do that). He had that air about him that just demanded your immediate attention and cooperation, it was a little unnerving but as kids, it helped a lot when they got into trouble.

Rin crossed her arms over her chest, silence following his question. Misaki broke the silence, "Well?"

"Are you done interrupting me?" Four nods (not counting Shiro since he already knew why she was there).

"I'm here because I want to play basketball at Teikō Junior High."

* * *

Hey everyone, here's the second chapter. I apologize for the late update and I ask you to forgive me. It would have been up sooner but long story short, I couldn't get online since someone hacked into my network and planted a nasty virus that destroyed a lot of me computer files. So, as an apology, I made this chapter 3x longer just for you guys.

The next chapter will be on the Teikō Basketball Team tryouts and it will probably be split into two parts possibly depending on how long I want it to be. Anyways, please review, favorite, or follow for more chapters coming soon. Thanks for reading!

One more thing, did anyone notice how Ms. Red acts like Akashi from GoM? ^^

Oº°'¨ Sweet Dreams ¨'°ºO


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"That's some big talk you're saying shorty." a voice said, ruffling Rin's hair from behind her. She turned around, ready to say something in retaliation to Shou for being teased about her size but her voice died in her throat. Instead of Shou's navy blue eyes, dark silver eyes belonging to an older student met hers framed by black hair falling in soft waves around his face and in his eyes. The newcomer's smile widened just a tad at her confused expression, "But I do like your style. If you want to join the team, you'll have to grab this opportunity and never let go. You have to work for it. Are you ready for that?" he asked, his eyes dancing like rain. Rin nodded and he ruffled her hair again much to her protest, "Good boy." The boy gave her one last smile before turning on his heel and walking back into the crowd of people.

Rin blinked for several moments before turning around, running a hand through her hair so it fell naturally back down to its original appearance instead of sticking up everywhere, "Anyone know who that was?"

Shou grinned and crossed over to her, putting his arm around her shoulders, "That was Tatsuya Ishiyama." he said. Rin took his arm from around her and stepped away, giving him a glare from the corner of her eye. He only grinned even more and leaned back against the wall.

"Who is Tatsuya Ishiyama?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Shou sighed and looked over in the direction the black haired senior had disappeared, "I'm surprised you haven't heard of him. Where have you been living? Under a rock?"

"No. I've been living in America. Now, who is he?" she asked again, a little annoyed with the bluenette.

Haru sighed and looked over at her, "Tatsuya Ishiyama, student council president and captain of the basketball team. His father is the Headmaster of Teikō and his mother is a teacher at Seirin High School. He's a pretty accomplished student with good grades, a scholarship, and he gets along with just about everyone."

"How did you know all that?" Shiro asked.

"I have my ways." Haru shrugged and the five went silent except for the sound of Misaki chewing on his chips. He finished his current bag and pulled out another only for it to be grabbed away by Takashi who threw the unopened bag in the trash a few feet away. Misaki stared at his empty hands for several long moments and looked over at Rin, his expression changing into a childish pout "Rin-chin! Taka-chin threw away my chips!" he whined, pointing an accusing finger at Takashi who just batted his eyes at Rin innocently.

She sighed and shook her head, "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Make him buy me another bag!" Misaki continued to whine and Takashi turned his head to glare at him.

"You need to stop eating so much unhealthy stuff or you're going to get fat!" he said, crossing his arms over his chest, "It will affect your basketball if you get fat."

"Will not!"

"Will too!"

"Will not!"

"Will too!"

"Will not-"

"I'll triple your training menu if you don't stop arguing. It's giving me a headache." Haru sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

Misaki looked at Rin with big, round eyes, "Rin-chin…Haru-chin and Taka-chin are being mean to me again…" he sniffled.

"There's no reason to cry Misaki." she smiled and patted his head soothingly and pulled out a box of Pocky from her school bag, "I'll get you a new bag of chips later but for now, eat this, okay?" she asked with a smile. Misaki nodded and began nibbling on the Pocky quietly.

"You're spoiling him Rincchi…" Shiro murmured.

"You want some don't you?" she asked, looking at him quizzically.

"Yes please."

Rin sighed and ruffled through her school bag again, pulling out another box of Pocky and threw it to him. Shiro caught it smoothly and he began nibbling on the sticks inside the box with a big smile on his face. Honestly, it seems none of them had grown up a bit besides their appearances changing. It was cute but it would get tiring after a while. Oh well, she'd deal with it when it came to that. Rin felt someone staring at her and quickly turned around, her eyes meeting Haru's. They stared at each other for several moments before she finally had to look away.

Haru smiled, "You said you lived in America? For how long?" Shoot. That piqued the interest of the others and they looked at Rin quietly. Even Misaki stopped eating to listen.

"Long enough." she said, looking away. Haru had a guess of the exact number of years but before he could continue, the sudden murmuring of students caught his attention.

"Hey the doors are opening!" came a shout from the front of the crowd. Six heads turned to see that the gym doors starting to slowly creak open. The air suddenly became tense and Rin got the feeling she didn't want to be there anymore. Before she could process what was happening, the crowd of students suddenly surged forward, pushing Rin away from the others and into the sea of students trying to get in to the gym. It was like trying to get through rush hour in New York. One way or another, Rin ended up towards the front of the crowd heading inside and they were led into the large gym where the crowd thinned out enough to actually walk without being pushed.

Rin looked around throught he sea of faces around her, trying to spot one of the boys but to no avail. She sighed and almost gave up hope when a hand suddenly touched her shoulder and she yelped like the girl she was and turned around to see Shou standing there, blinking at her in confusion. A smile spread across his face and he started laughing, holding his stomach, "You sounded like a girl just then. I wish I had my camera for that. It was priceless." he laughed.

Rin huffed and punched him in the arm, "I did not sound like a girl." she murmured only to make him laugh harder.

"You even…punch like one…" he said between laughs. She rolled her eyes and turned, ready to walk away but his hand stopped her.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you or anything."

"Yes, you did."

"Okay, maybe a little but not entirely."

"Suuuuuure." she rolled her eyes and shrugged his hand off her shoulder.

"Oi, I said sorry didn't I?" he asked and she looked over her shoulder at him.

Rin sighed and turned back around, "Fine. Your forgiven. Where did the others go?"

"We all got separated in the crowd."

"Okay, let's look for them then." she said and he nodded in agreement. They walked through crowd, looking around for the other three. They found Shiro rather quickly, flirting with a girl by the gym doors. Shou groaned and grabbed the boy by the back of his collar and dragged him away. The girl blinked in confusion and Rin flashed her a gentle smile before following the two through the crowd again in search of Haru, Takashi, and Misaki.

Misaki was standing in the center of the gym, looking around quietly with a bored expression. He spotted the three first and surprised Rin by jumping out at her, making her scream like a girl again and attracting a few looks from the people around them. Shou was trying hard not to laugh while the other two blinked at her blankly. Haru was talking with an older classmate about last years tryouts, trying to figure out a way they could get into first string quickly. The senior had laughed at that and before Haru could do anything to him, Rin pulled him away quickly. Takashi was a little hard to find since he had sat down and started reading a book under the bleachers no less. Haru was the one to spot him first and finally, they were back together again.

"Everyone gather around!" called a tall man from the center of the gym holding a clipboard in his hand. The group of six walked closer to hear and when everyone had gathered around him in a circle, the man continued, "Thank you all for joining us for tryouts. I am Coach Sataya and this is the Captain of the basketball club, Tatsuya Ishiyama. As you know, Teikō Junior High prides itself on its basketball team. Our club has over 100 members but only a few are allowed to join the first string. We teach our players that winning is everything and losing is never acceptable, no matter the reason. Now that we all understand each other, let's get on with tryouts. You will be split up into small groups and tested on your speed, strength, endurance, and agility using a basic training menu your seniors put together. At the end of tryouts, you will be sorted into your strings. Very rarly does a Freshman make first string but don't worry, you will be tested continuesly on your progress and if we see you are ready, you will be promoted to one of the other strings."

Tatsuya stepped forward then, "Let's get to it!" he shouted and the students immediately split up into small groups and were handed a sheet of paper with a copy of a training menu on it. Haru took the sheet of paper and scanned over it, a smile coming to his lips, "Now this is a proper training menu." he said and looked around at the others, "Last one to finish gets a special training menu from me afterwards." Their faces paled and Misaki looked over his shoulder at the paper.

"This is…" he murmured, his eyes widening and his lips spreading into a smile.

"That's right." Haru nodded and showed the others the training menu. One by one, their expressions brightened and they looked between each other, their eyes narrowed in determination.

"I won't lose to you." Shou smiled and ruffled Rin's hair. She pushed his hand away and grinned back at him, "Me neither."

"Let's get started then." Haru said, crossing his arms over his chest.

* * *

Yay! Another chapter done! Spring break is now half way over. I'm a little sad to see it go since I had a lot of fun the past few days and it means going back to doing homework but I'm also really happy at the same time to see all my friends again. Does that even make sense? Oh, well. I hope everyone's had a fantastic week even if it's not spring break where you are.

The next chapter will be Part || of the Teikō Basketball Tryouts. Please fav or follow if you haven't already and please review. Thanks for reading and I will talk to you guys next time ^^

Oº°'¨ Sweet Dreams ¨'°ºO


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"They finished that quickly?"

"They're not human."

"Who are those guys?"

Murmurs and whispers surrounded the small group, everyone's eyes on them. They had finished first and not only that, they finished the training menu in fifteen to twenty minutes top. Shou yawned sleepily and looked over at Haru with a bored expression on his face, "Is that all that's on the list?" he asked and Haru nodded, showing him the training menu again.

Shiro blinked and crouched down beside Rin lying on the floor on her stomach, poking her cheek curiously, "I think we killed Rincchi…" he murmured, looking down at the exhausted disguised girl. The group had forgotten she wasn't used to Haru's normal training menus in elementary school but hadn't thought about it until she suddenly collapsed after they finished. Shou grinned and crouched down in front of her, "Aw, was the little boy not able to take the heat?"

In a blur, Rin suddenly punched Shou in the stomach and he fell backwards onto his butt, his eyes wide in surprise. The boys started laughing at that, even Haru's frown turned into a smile. Misaki grinned and held a cold bottle of water to Rin's neck and she gratefully took it, sitting up slowly, "You guys are monsters…" she murmured and watched as the boys smiled down at her. Rin swore they were thinking of how small she was compared to them.

Rin sighed and continued to drink her water. The other groups soon finished up and the vise-coach stood up from his seat at the end of the gym under the basketball court, "Gather around!" he called, his voice echoing off the walls. The students walked over to him, gathering around in a circle around the man. Shou helped Rin stand and they walked behind the others to join the crowd of students.

"We will now announce the results. Second string members will be Ichiro Nogushi! Keisuke Sugihara! Takabe Yoshikazu! Shigemori Shibata! Jyoji Dazai! Yodo Ichisada…!" he continued to call out names for the second string and then proceeded to the next string, "For first string…" The group broke out into whispers. No one had gotten first string as a Freshman since the Generation of Miracles. Rin crossed her fingers, she knew the five boys next to her were apart of that group but she wasn't sure she was. The coach glared at them and they fell silent again before he continued, "Haru Shimizu! Shiro Tachibana! Takashi Ashira! Misaki Izumi! Shou Kagura! That is all. The rest of you will be on third string. Practice will start tomorrow afternoon right after school. Don't be late or there will be an extra training menu ready just for you. I look forward to working with all of you. For now, you are dismissed!"

Haru grinned as his name was called, Shiro punched the air excitedly, Takashi just looked at the coach blankly, Misaki continued to eat his chips, and Shou looked smugly forward. Rin looked down at the floor when her name wasn't called for several moments. A hand touched her shoulder and she looked up to see her friends looking at her sadly.

"You okay?" Shiro asked, giving her shoulder a little squeeze in comfort.

Rin smiled at him brightly and nodded, "I'm fine. I expected to be put in third string anyways. I'm not nearly as good or athletic as you guys. Don't worry about me. Be happy for being picked to be on first string." she said and smiled at them warmly.

Shou clenched his hands together in fists by his side for a few moments before looking up into her eyes. He grinned and held out a fist to her, "I better see you in first string soon, you hear?" Rin smiled and bumped her fist against his with a nod of her head, "You bet."

Takashi stepped forward and ruffled her hair, "See you soon you little squirt." he grinned and she nodded, not even mad at him for messing her hair up again. Misaki didn't say anything and gave her a lollipop before stepping back again. Haru just nodded a farewell. Shiro gave her a tight hug until she managed to choke out she couldn't breathe and he released her.

"I'll make it up to the first string soon. You better be regulars by time I do." she smiled and they nodded in agreement. One by one, the boys left, leaving Rin standing there in the gym. Most of the students were gone by time she turned around and walked out of the gym, her head bowed.

On her way home, Rin felt the familiar droplets of rain against her skin and looked up towards the grey clouds just as it started pouring down. She smiled up at the sky and murmured quietly, "I promise to play on the same court with you guys again soon. As a team."

* * *

Rin walked up to a pale black mail box and unlocked it with her keychain. The rain had stopped a few minutes ago but by then, she was soaked to the bone and shivering. Rin looked through the mail as she walked, noticing a letter from her parents back in America. She tucked that into her school bag and proceeded up the steps to a grey metal door with the shiny gold letters reading 9182 at the top of the door. Rin pulled her key out again and used it to unlock the door. It swung open smoothly and she closed it behind her.

"I'm home!" she called into the brightly lit apartment. She sat down on the step and took off her shoes, watching as water poured out of them. Rin sighed and put them next to the other pairs of shoes lining the wall before standing. The sound of little paws against the floor was the only thing to warn her before a small Siberian husky jumped up at her with a bark. She caught the small dog in her arms before he fell and smiled as it started to lick her face excitedly, "Hey Number 2. Did you have a good day?" The dog barked and she smiled, ruffling the fur on the top of its head appreciatively, "Good boy."

Rin put the dog down and it went running off into the kitchen where the smell of food was drifting out. Her stomach growled in response and she sighed, following the dog into the kitchen. A tall, muscular red head stood in front of the stove, making stir fry. Upon her entering, he looked over her with red eyes and smiled, "Welcome back Rin. How was school?"

"Fine. Tryouts were this afternoon."

"Really? What string did you make? First or second?"

"Third."

"Oh…that's fine too." he gave her a comforting smile and she shrugged, "Did you make any friends?"

"No but I met up with some friends I knew before I moved to America." she sighed.

"Cool. I hope you're hungry." he smiled and turned around, placing a plate of stir fry and rice and her hand.

"Thanks." she said and sat down at the wooden table, taking a bite. The food was warm and really tasty, "Where's my cousin?"

"He should be coming home soon." Rin nodded in agreement but didn't say anything else as he sat down on the other side of the table. She finished half of her plate before the door opened and closed. Number 2 went running across the floor and tackled a small bluenette just coming in the door way. He laughed and rubbed the dog between the ears, earning a bark.

"Hey Tetsu. How was work?" Rin asked.

"It was fine. How was school?" he asked, taking a seat beside her at the table.

"Fine. Taiga was making fun of how I got on third string." she smirked and watched as the red head flashed her a glare before looking back at Kuroko.

"It took me awhile to get onto the first string. Don't worry about it and try you hardest, okay?" Kuroko smiled and she nodded.

Rin had started living with her cousin and his roommate a few weeks ago but she was already feeling right at home. Kagami was a fire fighter and was often in and out of the apartment but on occasion, he made them dinner and they were able to eat together. On nights when he couldn't make dinner, Rin usually went down to the convenience store down the street and got some food they could make easily. Kuroko had become a pre-school teacher after graduating from college and was still hard to notice but she was getting used to it.

Right on cue, Kagami's phone went off and he sighed, excusing himself before he ran out the door quickly, grabbing his jacket from the rack as he passed. Rin sighed and finished eating, putting her plate in the dishwasher.

"Hey, are you okay? You look depressed." Kuroko murmured, looking at her concerned.

"I'm fine Tetsu. I have to get up early tomorrow so I'll be heading to bed now. See you in the morning." she nodded and walked up the stairs to her room, Number 2 close on her heels. She took a quick shower and got into her pajamas before plopping down onto her back on her bed. She pulled out the letter from her parents back in America and tucked it into the nightstand top drawer without reading through it. She wasn't in the mood to hear what they had to say about her moving to Japan. Rin quietly pulled the covers over her small body and sighed, willing herself to drift off to sleep. Number 2 jumped up and curled up against her chest, licking her face a few times before closing his eyes too. It was a tiring first day after meeting everyone again and it wasn't long before she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Another chapter done, don't-know-how-many to go! Yay! Thank you for the awesome reviews everyone. I really appreciate it ^^ I'll see you guys next chapter!

Oº°'¨ Sweet Dreams ¨'°ºO


	6. Chapter 5

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"

In between the blaring alarm clock and the wet tongue licking her cheek, Rin couldn't tell which woke her up first. Neither the less, she smiled and scratched the Siberian Husky behind the ears appreciatively, earning a bark from the small dog. Number 2 jumped off her chest and off the bed, running out of her room and disappearing down the stairs. She yawned sleepily and turned off her alarm clock, ready to go back to sleep when she noticed a smoky smell in the air and heard voices downstairs.

Having no choice now, she pushed the covers off and walked into her bathroom, the floor making soft creaks. Rin brushed her hair and teeth and saw she had some time before school actually started, deciding to go practice for a bit after breakfast on the basketball court down the street on the edge of the park. She dressed into a pair of sweat pants and a loose black hoodie before walking out of the room, down the hall, and down the stairs, the smoky smell getting stronger and the voices getting louder.

Rin came to a stop just outside the kitchen and leaned against the door frame, watching the scene before her. Three plates sat on the counter filled with burned pancakes, bacon, and eggs obviously indicating a failed attempt at making breakfast for the three of them while a pan llay on the floor by the oven, two still uncooked but somehow burnt pancakes beside it.

Kagami stood with his hands crossed over his chest, staring down at Kuroko who had his head bowed down to the floor, "...I told you to leave cooking to me Tetsu." he was saying and sighed.

"I said I was sorry. I was only trying to help..." Kuroko murmured and Kagami looked at him for a few moments before small smile came to his lips, ruffling Kuroko's teal blue hair.

"I know. I just don't want you to end up burning yourself is all. Be more careful next time, kay?" he asked with a gentle smile towards the smaller male. Kuroko looked up at him for several moments before he suddenly noticed Rin and his face grew red.

"Good morning Rin. Ah...How was your night? Sleep well?" Kuroko asked and Kagami looked over his shoulder at Rin, realizing she had probably just seen the whole thing. She smiled and made note to use it as blackmail if she ever wanted anything.

"It was alright. Number 2 kept me warm." she said and walked over to the pan, throwing away the pancakes on the floor before turning to them, "I'll handle breakfast this morning, go sit down in the living room or at the table. It will be ready in a few minutes." she said in a motherly tone of voice. Kuroko nodded and left with his head bowed like a dog that had gotten whipped with Kagami close behind. Rin sighed and ran a hand through her short hair. She didn't know what she was going to do with those two.

It didn't take very long before she was placing the three plates on the table, the burnt pancakes, eggs, and bacon still on the plate. Kuroko looked up at her confused and she sighed, gesturing for them to eat. Kagami took a bite of the pancakes and his eyes widened to the size of saucers and he began eating rather quickly even for him. Kuroko still looked hesitant so Kagami cut off a piece of pancake off his own plate and held the fork to Kuroko's lips like a mother feeding a child. Kuroko blinked at the older man and slowly took a bite. His eyes widened as well and the two began eating again. Rin sighed and finished, putting her dishes in the dish washer.

* * *

Rin walked down the street to the basketball court on the edge of the park beside a river running underneath a large bridge. She sighed and practiced her dribbling and shooting for a bit, working on what they had been doing the past few days in practice before going a little more towards her original practice menu and finished off with practicing a special shooting technique she had learned from Kuroko that she had changed around just a little to fit her own style so she wouldn't be using his moves and could call it her own.

Rin stood at half court, the ball resting in the palm of her hand in a very odd shooting position. She smiled and jumped, pushing the ball upward with her palm instead of her finger tips. What happened next could only be described as magic and the only person besides Rin who had seen it stood on the side walk a little bit away, a pair of wide emerald green eyes framed by beige colored hair watched her in shock and surprise. For a moment, there was silence before the swish of the basketball net echoed softly around the park.

* * *

Rin had run home after that and taken a quick shower to cool off before changing into her Teikō Junior High uniform and getting a lift from Kagami on his way to the fire station. He was more than happy to give her a lift, telling her in the car it was an excuse for him to see her a little longer if he took her to school. She had punched him in the arm after that, knowing he was only teasing and he laughed. She got out of the car and waved good bye before turning on her heal and running up the sidewalk towards the school. Students were still coming into the school but she easily weaved her way through them, somehow getting into the school just as the warning bell rang. She sighed and ran down the hall and up the stairs towards her advisory.

The bell rang just as she ran into the room and she breathed out a sigh of relief. She sits down next to Shiro and he looks over at her. She looks back at him confused and he sighs, turning in his chair to face her completely. He made sure Mr. Nanaki wasn't paying attention before asking her in a low whisper, "I saw you in the park. Why were your there that early in the morning?"

"Oh…I was just practicing dribbling and shooting for a bit. No big deal." she smiled, hoping he hadn't seen her at the last part of her practice.

"No big dea-" he was cut off as Mr. Nanaki threw a chalkboard eraser at him, hitting Shiro in the center of the forehead. The boy groaned, holding his head in his hands. The class stared at Mr. Nanaki in disbelief.

"You little brat! I told you to be quiet the first hundred times!" he growled and then turned around again, going back to teaching. Shiro kept his head down the rest of the class and if it wasn't for his back moving up and down, Rin could swear she saw him stop breathing for several moments.

* * *

The lunch bell rang and Rin quickly left Shiro behind, going up to the roof with her lunch in hand. Shou was the only one up there sitting on the other side of the roof fast asleep. Rin smiled and walked over to him, sitting dwon beside him and starting to eat her lunch. She noticed Shou had a lunch sitting beside him that he had finished about a third of before falling asleep and sighed, nudging the boy until he awoke. Shou blinked at her through half closed/open eyes before jumping back in surprise, "When did you get here?!"

"Been here the whole time actually. Hurry and finish you lunch before Misaki gets here and eat it for you." she smiled and nudged him again before he could drift off again.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're not my mother…" he murmured but started eating again anyways. A long arm snaked out from behind Rin and takes a dumpling from her bento. She sighed and looked over her shoulder at the silver haired giant who was in the process of eating the dumpling.

"Hello Misaki. Takashi." she nods in greeting towards the two. Misaki smiles and sits beside her while Takashi takes the spot in between her and Shou, "Where's Haru and Shiro?"

"Shiro said he had homework to finish and Haru said he had something to do and promised to come next time." Takashi explained. Misaki nodded and tried to steal a rice ball from Shou but his hand was quickly slapped away. Misaki pouted and went back to his own lunch.

* * *

Sorry everyone that this chapter is boring. I'm writing this half asleep so there will be grammar errors and misspellings and I apologize for that. The next chapter will be a little more exciting but I can't make any promises. Anyways, I hope you guys had a great April Fools. I sure did XD.

Please follow or favorite if you haven't already. I would really like to hear your opinions on the story so far if that's okay so even if you don't have a fanfiction account, please write a review. I'd love to hear so feedback, good or bad.

Oº°'¨ Sweet Dreams ¨'°ºO


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The final bell rang across the property of Teikō Junior High, signaling loudly classes were over and students were allowed to go home. Mr. Nanaki had fallen asleep at the teacher desk and as the bell rang, he jolted awake causing him to fall out of his seat and onto the floor with a thud followed by several different curses. The students in the classroom did well to hide their laughs but Shiro couldn't and he rolled onto the floor, holding his stomach.

"Mr. Tachibana!" Mr. Nanaki growled and Shiro ran out of the room quickly before the grumpy teacher could yell at him anymore or worse, give him a detention that would cause him to miss practice. If there was one thing Shiro feared above else, it was Haru getting angry at him for skipping practice. Shiro had learned first-hand that if you miss practice, Haru would give you triple the training you missed over the time you were gone. He was strict about that kind of thing but in more of a motherly way than anything.

Rin sighed and watched him leave in a hurry, a big smile displayed on his face. She gathered her school bag and textbooks, walking out of the room quietly and down the hall. She noticed there were more students sticking around than usual but didn't take any notice of it until she found the men's bathroom she usually changed in that was conveniently close to the boys locker room, was crowded and a little too cramped for her tastes. She barely made it into the stall without being crushed. Rin breathed out a sigh of relief and started to change into her practice clothes.

She quickly finished and walked out of the stall only to be shoved and pushed through the crowded bathroom and out into the hall where she stood, bent over breathing heavily. That was the second time that has happened and she hoped it wouldn't become a habit. She straightened and put her duffel in the locker room before walking back into the gym for practice only to find they were outside instead.

Rin groaned and ran down the hall, her foot steps echoing off the walls as she ran. Out the doors she went in a hurry, down to the pale orange track where the third string stood around the coach at the edge of the track field who was shouting instructions.

She tried to be as quiet as possible as she came up to the group but the coach saw her coming out of the building. He scowled, fixing her with a steel gaze not at all friendly towards the disguised girl, "Mr. Komatsu. Would you like to tell everyone what was so important that you arrived at practice late? Again?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. The group of boys turned and looked back at her. It was like a spotlight had been casted and she found herself directly under it.

She smiled and shrugged, "I would rather not like to tell you why I was late." she said, twisting his words around.

Coach's face reddened a little and he growled at her, "Why were you late? Simply answer the question." She knew she was driving his patience but it was still funny to see the coach get mad. Even the older students who had been with him longer let a smile come to their faces and a twinkle to their eyes.

"A black cat crossed my path on the way over and the next thing I know, the two of us were having a staring contest." she smiled, knowing he knew it was lie. That didn't stop the team from laughing. Even the coach cracked a smile but hid it quickly with a cough.

"Very funny. Now, as I was saying, we will do 50 laps courtesy of Mr. Komatsu then we will begin practicing passing." he explained, "Now get going." Coach clapped his hands together and shoed them away like flies. Rin rolled her eyes and joined the third string members to run around the track 50 times. By time she was done, her lungs were burning and her body screamed at her to stop and rest. She collapsed on the grass on her back next to the other boys, trying to catch her breath.

"You're hopeless." Rin opened her eyes and stared up at the boy standing above her, a smile playing on his lips. She blinked in confusion, trying to recall if she knew him from somewhere but didn't remember ever meeting a boy like him. He wasn't hard to miss either with shoulder length blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and letting his bangs fall into his deep ash-mauve eyes. He held his hand out to her and she took it, still a little more than confused. The boy grinned at her pulled her up off the grass so she was back on her feet again, "You're Rin Komatsu, right? I sit two seats in front of you in class. The name's Tashiro Okimura. Nice to meet you." he winked.

"It's nice to meet you too Okimura." she smiled and he grinned.

"Tashiro or Tashi is fine. I don't like using formalities Rin-chan." he smiled. She blinked, wondering why he used –chan but didn't say anything else as the coach called them over again. Tashiro handed her a water bottle with a smile before walking over to the group surrounding the coach now.

"Next we'll be practicing passing to each other so everyone pair up with someone. Once you find a partner, grab a ball and start." he grumbled and blew into his whistle for them to begin. The players paired off with each other almost immediately, leaving Tashiro and Rin the only one's without partners. Tashiro smiled and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Guess we're partners, huh Rin-chan?"

"Only if you can keep up." she smiled, picking up a basketball and passing it to him before he was ready. The taller boy caught it easily in one hand and smiled.

"I won't be fooled that easily." he grinned and she smirked. The two started passing back and forth, each time trying to catch the other off guard. Tashiro added a flick to his wrist and the ball went whizzing right past Rin's ear. She glared at him and he put his hands up in the air with an innocent smile on his lips. Rin sighed and ran after the ball which rolled farther away from her, as if if teasing her to try and catch up with it.

The basketball rolled to a stop when it came in contact with the foot of a girl with chocolate colored hair. The girl looked up at Rin, her gaze judging her as she ran up to her. Rin smiled and came to a stop, "Uh, can I have the ball back please?" she asked politely. The girl blinked at her for a moment before kicking the ball up, lightly landing in Rin's hands. Rin beamed at her, "Thank you so much! I'm Rin Komatsu." she said and held out a hand.

The girl looked down at it before shaking it and murmuring quietly, "Suzuki Katabuchi."

"It's nice to meet you Suzuki-chan." Rin smiled brightly and the said girl's cheeks flared red in embarrassment and she bowed her head so Rin couldn't see it.

"Oi! Komatsu get your happy little butt back over here!" the coach shouted angrily over at him. Rin sighed and said a quick good bye before running back over to Tashiro who blinked at her and then looked back at the girl.

"Was that the Ice Queen Suzuki Katabuchi?" Tashiro asked, a little more than just surprised.

Rin blinked in confusion, "Ice Queen? What are you talking about?"

"Dude, Suzuki hates guys. Her father left her mother and her for another woman and ever since, she's done nothing but hate all guykind. How the hell did you get her to talk to you without punching you in the face?" Tashiro asked. Rin noticed that a few other guys around them that had heard the conversation looked at her expecting an answer.

Rin shrugged, "I don't know. I just asked for the ball back and introduced myself. I didn't do anything special except talk and smile."

"Smile?" Tashiro blinked in confusion.

Rin sighed and gave Tashiro the same smile she had done to Suzuki. Tashiro's eyes widened and he stared at him as did the other guys around him. Even more confused now than ever, Rin asked what they were staring at.

"Cute…" murmured one of the older boys, Kenko Kishi as she recalled. Rin blushed and looked over at him.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, her head spinning in utter confusion. This was too weird.

"Rin…You look like a cute high school girl when you smile like that…" another one of the boys said.

Rin looked back over at Tashiro and her eyes widened when she saw he was close to tears. Before she could even blink, Tashiro wrapped her in his arms tightly, "Rin-chan is so cute!"

Rin growled and tried to push him off of her but he held on tightly. The upperclassmen laughed and Rin looked over at Kenko, "Sempai, can you give me a hand here?" she said annoyed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Kenko laughed and shook his head, "Sorry, no can do. My hands are tied. You two are just so cute together." he smiled.

Rin huffed as her sempai ruffled her hair as he passed, "You meanies." she said, sticking out her tongue. Tashiro laughed and finally let go. The two continued on with practice for a little while, just passing the ball back and forth. She didn't understand why they were doing this exactly. By time practice ended, the sky had darkened considerably telling her it was around six o'clock.

Her stomach growled hungrily on her way home, still in her shorts and t-shirt from practice. She hadn't had anything since lunch and the coach had worked them to the bone after they spent thirty minutes just passing the ball back and forth. What she needed right now was a hot bath, dinner, and sleep. While she imagined the treat in store for her when she got home, she was distracted by a commotion nearby.

Rin hadn't realized it until just then but she crossed through he park by the basketball court on her way home every day. A small group of nine elementary students stood on the court, arguing with a group of ten high school boys looking like they meant business. She watched as an older boy with neck length sun-bleached hair she assumed was the leader of the high school group step forward. The younger boy in the front of the group said something angrily and spit onto the older boy's shoes. The blonde's eyes flared and he kicked the boy hard in the stomach.

The older blonde raised his foot to strike again but Rin suddenly appeared in between them and caught the foot before it could make contact. Both groups jumped in surprise at her sudden appearance and she swore one of the older boys let out a small squeal. She pushed back on the foot, knocking the older boy down onto his butt. He glared up at her angrily, a murderous intent radiating off in his gaze.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you to play nice with others?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest, unfazed by his glare.

Rin turned around to the younger boy and helped him up, brushing off the dirt on his clothes, "You okay?" she smiled and the boy nodded. The young boy had dark red hair that reminded Rin of Akira but their eyes, the boys a deep emerald, were different. She smiled happily and looked around at the elementary students, "Hurry and run home, okay?" she said and they nodded. They were slow but they eventually made it off the court. The red head looked back at her and waved before running off after his friends.

Rin smiled and waved good bye before standing up again. She sighed and turned around to the high school group. Before she could process what was happening, a fist connected with her jaw and she stumbled backwards. A trail of blood rolled down her chin from her mouth and she wiped it away with grin on her lips.

The one who had punched her, a brunette with deep brown eyes the color of clay, smiled when he saw the blood, "Serve's you right brat." He turned away and she shrugged, looking at him amused, "Wow. Not a bad arm for a two year old." The boy that had punched her was a few feet taller than her, smaller than the average high schooler but he made up for it in muscle. He looked to be 165 lbs. built of nothing but solid muscle.

"A little boy like you shouldn't be out this late. You better run home to mommy before something happens." she said and the boy turned around, his eyes gleaming in the near darkness. She punched him hard in the nose and smiled when she heard a faint crack and saw a trail of blood coming out of his right nostril. Her knuckles burned from the impact but it was worth it.

Their leader looked her up and down, as if calculating something before he smiled a wicked grin. His blonde hair was greasy and was slicked back against his head with a few strands hanging out into his eyes on either side of his face. His eyes flickered with murderous intent like before but this time, she noticed they were like coals, sparking amber against a dark brown so dark it could be mistaken as black.

The blonde pulled a knife from his back pocket and showed it to her in plain sight, the faint orange light of the setting sun gleaming off the tip like a razor, "Now, now. There's no need for a little boy to interfere with adult business. How about you get down on your hands and knees and apologize. Maybe then we'll let you go unharmed…Maybe."

"You should be the one apologizing. What did those boys ever do to you?" Rin asked, trying not to show her fear in her voice. She could feel her legs shaking but she stood her ground. As stupid as it was, she wouldn't back down from a fight. Guess you could say it was in her blood.

"They wouldn't leave." he said and stepped towards her. For every step he took closer, she stepped back until she was up against the fence and the weapon pressed lightly but painfully against her cheek.

""What a pretty face you've got there brat. It'd be a shame to mess it up..." he says, dragging the blade of the knife against her cheek, cutting the skin and a thin trail of blood rolling down her cheek. Her eyes betrayed her, showing her genuine fear in the pale light and he smiled sadistically. Behind him, she could see the boys grinning as they watched their leader.

The blonde suddenly shoves her away mercilessly into the pole supporting the basketball hoop with a punch to the stomach. She gasped, pain rippling through her body at the sudden collision between the pole and her hip. She slid down to her knees, holding her stomach tightly, biting her lip to keep from crying. She looked up just in time to catch a punch heading for her jaw but a second fist connected to the same boy, a black haired boy with a scar on his left cheek and hazel eyes, connect with her shoulder. She cried out and the leader laughed.

"You scream like a girl." he smiled and she received a kick in the ribs. The pain was exhilarating but she stood on shaky legs, holding her stomach with one arm and using the other to stand. The blonde clapped, "Bravo, bravo. We have a fighter here."

A third boy with dark brown hair and white highlights on the tips of his hair went for another punch towards her shoulder but she caught it much to the group's surprise. She twisted hard, hearing a loud crack of bone breaking. The boy screamed and fell to the ground, holding his wrist to his chest. Two boys rushed to his aid while the blonde tried to grab her. She ducked under his arm and ran as fast as her legs could carry her which after practice and the beating, wasn't very fast. The blonde ran to the edge of the court and shouted, "Better watch your back! Next time we see you you're dead!"

* * *

I'm so sorry for the late update. I try to post once a week but I just couldn't figure out what I wanted to do in this chapter to make it a little more exciting. So, I took my brother's suggestion and had the main character beat up. I hate having writer's block. It's a real pain when you're trying to get things done. Well, Happy late Easter everyone. I hope everyone had a great few weeks without my sucky updates ^^

Thank you very much for reading. Please review, favorite, and follow if you haven't already. I thank you for everyone who has reviewed in the past and hope to hear from everyone again. If you want quicker updates, please review! I have cookies ^^ Not but seriously, REVIEW. It will help me a lot to hear everyone's opinions about the story so far. :P

Oº°'¨ _Sweet Dreams_ ¨'°ºO


	8. Chapter 6: Author's Note

**Authors Note:**

Hey everyone. So sorry for not updating in awhile. I know I say this like every chapter and I'm very sorry about that. I have half of chapter seven written but I am having trouble finding an ending to it since I still haven't been able to get over my writer's block. Its so frustrating. I won't be able to update for the next week even if I finish the chapter becuase my grandparents are coming to town and my mom is getting surgery so inbetween that and school I just won't have any time to get online unless it's for five minutes to just check up on things.

I hope you guys can understand and once again, I am so very sorry for not being a good author and updating more. I say this a lot and I realize that. It's sounding more and more like an excuse now since I've said it so many times. Well, hopefully I will have chapter seven up in seven days so cross your fingers. If you have any tips for getting over writer's block, please share in a PM or Review. I'd really appreciate it.

Yours Truly,  
_Christian Neo_


	9. Chapter 7

Rin ran down the street, her vision blurry and her body screaming at her to stop and rest. She had been running for what seemed like forever without pause. She just wanted to get away from the boys. She had remembered a while ago that she had left her school bag near the court but she didn't know which direction she had been running or for how long. Night had fallen already, draping the world in a black cloak.

All at once, it started to rain. Lightning flashed across the sky, thunder following soon after and shaking the ground. Rin gasped as she suddenly slipped in the mud, falling onto her hands and knees. Pain ripped through her shoulder and she bit back a scream. As much as her shoulder and hip were killing her, she had to get home. Slowly, she rose back to her feet and started again but this time at a walk.

Rin lost her footing and went down again, this time not getting up. Laying there on the concrete, her cheek pressed into the cold earth with the rain pouring down around her she finally realized something. No one knew where she was. Hell, she didn't even know where she was. It was just like that time four years ago…She had been scared and cold just like she was now. With no one to come to her rescue, she had just faded away in that dark alley.

Exhaustion was starting to take over, going back and forth in between consciousness and unconsciousness.

In that dark alley, a single ray of light had shone through and a voice had called out to her, calling her name repeatedly. She could have sworn she was actually hearing someone calling her name but that was impossible. No one knew where she was.

"…Rin! Rin wake up!" the voice repeated and she felt like she was being lifted into the air. Worried eyes flickering like flames the color of a setting sun stared down at her, washing over her like a memory. A warm red encircled the pupils, spreading out to turn into an equally warm orange color and around the edges of his irises, a warm yellow. They captivated her, but she could feel herself slipping into unconsciousness.

For a single moment, everything seemed to slow and she got a look at his face as moonlight streamed down from the clouds above them. Short, neck length dark red hair framed his face, messy and dripping water from the rain. It only took but a moment for her to recognize him: Akira.

"Stay with me Rin…Stay with me…" were the last words she heard before she blacked out of consciousness, unaware that she had said something in return. A promise formed that moment, neither knowing the cost they had to pay for it later.

* * *

A bright pale light greeted her as she blinked awake. She was lying on her back, staring up at the pale white ceiling of a hospital room. Monitors beeped next to the bed, showing her heart rate was normal and steady. Rin blinked, wondering how she got there…

_Worried eyes flickering like flames the color of a setting sun stared down at her, washing over her like a memory. A warm red encircled the pupils, spreading out to turn into an equally warm orange color and around the edges of his irises, a warm yellow. They captivated her, but she could feel herself slipping into unconsciousness._

_For a single moment, everything seemed to slow and she got a look at his face as moonlight streamed down from the clouds above them. Short, neck length dark red hair framed his face, messy and dripping water from the rain. It only took but a moment for her to recognize him…_

"Akira…" she whispered quietly to no one in particular. Had it all been just a dream or had she really seen Akira? She remembered him calling out to her but couldn't remember his words. It had seemed so real…A part of her hoped it had been a dream while the other hoped it had been reality.

Rin looked to the side at a pale hand attached to hers, teal blue hair hiding the sleeping face of Kuroko. Number 2, to her surprise, lay in his lap fast asleep, his tail wagging back and forth indicating he was dreaming about something happy. She almost didn't see her cousin because of his lack of presence. It scared her to think that one day, he could just disappear without a trace and no one would notice.

Her head perks up at hushed voices outside the hall and is disappointed when Kagami and a green haired man are the only two to walk in. She had hoped it had been Akira so she would know whether it had all been a dream. Guess it really was.

"Oh, you're awake. That's good. How are you feeling?" the green haired man asked, walking closer to the bed. He wore a white doctor's coat with a name tag reading Shintaro Mindorima in plain black and white as clear as day. She blinked in confusion before suddenly realizing this was the legendary shooting guard from the generation of miracles. Sure, she had met one or two of the others but it always sent a chill down her spine when she was face to face. It wasn't exactly a chill of fear, it was more like…an excited chill as if something big was going to happen.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot to introduce myself I am-" he started but Rin cut him off.

"You're Shintaro Mindorima, one of the generation of miracles my cousin played with during middle school." she said proudly and he nodded.

"I am. You've done your research. As I was telling Kagami, you have several bruises covering your body, especially around you shoulder and hip. Your shoulder was dislocated but we fixed that. We gave you some pain killers to numb the pain. On a scale of one being the best and five being the worst, how much pain are you feeling right now?"

"Zero." she said, holding her hand up and making on O with it in indication.

He smiled which seemed to surprise Kagami and he nodded, "That's good news. I will give prescribe you some pills that will help with the healing and pain." he said, scribbling down something on his clipboard before dropping it back down to his side, "Don't put too much stress on your shoulder and hip for a few days and you'll be fine. You are free to leave once you feel up to it." he nodded and left, the door closing with an unattended slam behind him and startling Kuroko and Number 2 awake.

Kuroko blinked at her for a moment before his expression darkened with the unmistakable look of disappointment in his eyes. She flinched back and started to explain but he shook his head, "We'll talk when we get home."

* * *

Rin sat on a stool in the kitchen, watching Kuroko pace back and forth as she explains what happened, "…I ran away and the next thing I know, I'm in the hospital." she finished and Kuroko turned, glaring at her. She had never seen Kuroko so angry before and telling by how Kagami had ran out in a hurry, he hadn't either.

"You're such an idiot." he scowled and she bowed her head, "Do you know what could have happened if that boy hadn't found you?"

Rin perked up, looking up at him, "Boy? Did he have red hair?"

"What? Yeah, he did but I don't see what's that got to do with this."

Rin smiled to herself, knowing now it hadn't been a dream. Akira really had been there. She felt as if a burden had lifted off her shoulders.

"Sorry…" she murmured.

"Sorry isn't good enough. You may look like a boy but you are a fifteen year old girl! You can't just go around picking fight with middle school boys-"

"High school."

"What?"

"They weren't middle school. They were high school."

"WHAT?!"

"I just said-"

"I know what you just said! Why the hell would you do something like that?"

"I already told you-"

"I know, I know. It was to save the little boy. You…Do you want to end up like your brother that badly?"

Rin froze, her eyes widening as she stared at him. Even Kagami who was sitting on the coach suddenly turned around to stare at the two. She narrowed her eyes, her hands clenching into fists by her side, "Yuki has nothing to do with this."

"You sure?"

"I'm positive."

Kuroko sighed, sitting down and holding his head in his hands, "Don't ever do that again Rin. Please. I can't lose you too…" he murmured and Rin sighed, getting up and giving him a hug.

"I can't promise anything Kuroko but I will promise you this: I won't go looking for trouble." she murmured just as the doorbell rang. Kagami had been watching the scene play out quietly, but now scrambled to his feet, running to the door. A few moments later he came back with two boxes of pizza.

"Okay, stop being so gloomy. It's time to eat!" Kagami grinned and the two sighed, following him into the living room. Kagami turned on a basketball game and sat down to eat around the coffee table.

Like usual, Kuroko only ate a few slices of pizza because of his small appetite. However, Kagami ate an entire box himself because of his monstrous appetite. Rin was like a combination of the two, not eating too much and not eating too little either.

"You'll be staying home tomorrow." Kuroko saids suddenly and Kagami groans, letting his head fall back and glare up at the ceiling.

"No, I won't." Rin stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes you are."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No-"

"Will you two just stop it already?!" Kagami cried out, startling them both. He looked between the two and sighed, "If you're feeling up to it in the morning, you can go but if you're not, you will stay. Does that work with everyone?"

They reluctantly nodded in agreement. Rin excuses herself and walks up the stairs to her room. She looked around at the still packed boxes and sighed, knowing she'd have to finish unpacking sometime this week. She took a quick shower, wincing as the water touched the bruises that covered her body. After that, she dressed in her PJs, took the medicine Midorima had given her and climbed into bed.

Rin stared up at the ceiling, her thoughts drifting to Akira. The last thoughts as she drifted off into sleep were of his eyes, the color of the sunset.

* * *

Finally, I have finished the seventh chapter and was able to get online(even though its a little bland) ^^ Yay! I was able to update it sooner than I thought. I don't know if my writers block completely went away yet but I was able to finish this so it's gone if only a little. Onwards to type up the next one ^^

Big thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorite, and followed. I really appreciate the support. Trust me when I say that it really does mean a lot to me that there are people who take the time and read through these chapters and are patient for the next one. Love you all! ^^

I wonder why Akira recognized her and the others didn't…Oh, well I will figure that out next time ^^ Until then, good bye!


	10. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Rin sat in class the next morning, looking out the window with sleepy eyes. She had somehow managed to convince Kuroko to let her go to school today on the condition she skips practice for the next few days. He had even gone and made Kagami promise to pick her up when school ended to make sure she didn't stay back and go to practice with the guys. Sometimes Kuroko being protective of her was annoying. This was one of those times.

Mr. Nanaki was absent so the class sat and stood around, talking and gossiping with each other while they waited for the substitute to arrive. Rin yawned sleepily, not listening to the conversations around her.

"Hey, you okay? You look tired." Shiro asked, sitting on top of the desk in front of hers, his expression worried and concerned for his friend.

Truth be told, she almost didn't want to get out of bed this morning. If it had been painful last night, it was worse this morning. She hadn't had any sleep at all and it showed, "Yeah. Just a restless night." she said and forced a smile.

"A good night's sleep is very important…" he started and launched into a long explanation on sleep and why the lack of it could affect you physically and mentally. Rin drifted off about half way through it.

Shiro suddenly shakes her awake, startling her and causing her to jump back. The chair tilted backwards and she fell backwards in her chair, landing on her back. He sighs and gets up, crouching down next to her and flicked her nose as if she was a puppy, "Baka. Pay more attention next time."

Rin was about to shoot a retort at him but stopped. Shiro was smiling down at her, his pale brown hair falling softly down into his bright, clear emerald eyes. With the light streaming down from the window onto his face she almost thought he looked like an angel. His eyes narrowed when he noticed the cut on her cheek and brushed it with his thumb, "Where did you get this?" SHiro's eyes fixed onto her, genuinely concerned.

Her mind raced, trying to think of what to say when she heard herself say, "A cat." Shiro raised an eyebrow and she could have smacked herself for being such an idiot.

"A cat? Are you sure? It looks like a knife cut." he sighed and she felt a pang of guilt in her chest for lying. She had to play it out now.

"Yep. A cat. I was walking home and a cat jumped out at me." she laughed lightly and waved her hand up and down, "Don't worry about it. Just a scratch."

Shiro looked like he wanted to ask something else but the substitute walked in and the class scrambles to get to there seats. Shiro sighs and shakes his head before looking back at her, "We'll talk later." He had that tone that clearly said it wasn't an option.

Rin sighed and got back into her seat as the substitute stood before the class and wrote her name up on the board before repeating it to the class, "I am Mrs. Dargrian. Since Mr. Nanaki isn't here, I will be teaching you today." she smiled and began teaching. She wasn't as harsh as Mr. Nanaki but her teaching methods were so close to his it was scary.

* * *

When the lunch bell rang, Rin bolted out of the room to escape Shiro before he could drag her up to the roof and interrogate her in front of the other boys and get their opinions on the matter. She sighed and walked outside, looking for a shady place to sit. Light strawberry hair caught her attention and she looked over to see Suzuki sitting under the shade of the tree, eating a bento with a girl with light brown hair hanging to shoulders and pulled back out of her bright, muddy green colored eyes by bobby pins.

Suzuki smiled and waved her over, "Hey Rin."

"Can I eat with you?" Rin asked, receiving a scowl from the second girl.

"I don't know. Can you?" she asked and Suzuki smacked her upside the back of her head.

"Suzuko, be nice. He's a friend." Suzuki said and smiled up at Rin. The reaction from the said girl told Rin this didn't happen often. Even though Rin was a girl, the two didn't know that and she would like to have it stay that way.

Rin took a seat next to Suzuki and she smiles, offering her a peace of chocolate for her bento. Rin took it gratefully with a smile. The three sat underneath the shade of the tree for the rest of lunch, just talking and laughing together. When the warning bell rang, Rin was sad to go. She had become very good friends with Suzuko and Suzuki in the short time they ate together. She learned Suzuko was actually the basketball team manager and worked with the first string most the time but after learning Rin was in third string, the other girl promised she'd come visit sometime.

* * *

The last bell rang and the class jumped to their feet, running out of the room to go do who knows what. The sun was shining outside, making it the perfect afternoon to do after school activities. Too bad she had to spend it at home having a staring contest with the ceiling in her bedroom.

Rin stood and gathered her things slowly; depressed she couldn't go play basketball with everyone until her injuries healed. Shiro pauses at the door and leans against the frame, looking back at her, "Hurry up slow poke or you're going to be late."

She sighed and forced a smile, "Go ahead without me. Haru will be mad if you're late."

Shiro's face paled at the thought and he reluctantly nodded, "See you after practice Rinicchi." he smiled and waved farewell. She waved back before he disappeared behind the corner.

Rin bowed her head and grabbed her bag, "Bye Shiro." she murmured and walked out of the school building to the gates where Kagami stood leaning against his car.

"Hey kid. Why so depressed?" he asked and she shrugged.

"I can't play basketball with everyone."

Kagami looked at her for a moment before smiling, "Now, Kuroko said you couldn't go to practice. He didn't say anything about playing basketball."

Rin looked up at him in surprise and his smile turned into a devious smirk, "Get in." he said and nodded his head in the direction of the backseat door. She smiled and did as told, unaware of a pair of narrowed amber colored eyes belonging to a certain white-gold honey colored blonde watching her from the second floor window of the school.

* * *

Yippee! Another update. Finally, right? I'm sorry I'm so slow with updates and replying to your reviews. Testing just started so I've been busy studying and trying to get this story updated. My mom had surgery the other day so I've been helping her too so in between that and testing, it's going to be tough to update as much as I would like to.

I'm actually really happy that we made it to eight chapters. I didn't think when I started this that I would be able to stick to it so long but for everyone who has viewed, follow, favorite, and review on this story; you guys have motivated me to keep writing. Thanks so much. See you next time ^^


	11. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The car door slammed close behind Rin as she got out of the car. Kagami smiled over his shoulder at her to see if she was following before leading her down the street to a basketball court enclosed with a tall chain linked fence. They walk inside and Kagami smiles, throwing her a basketball at her face.

Rin almost didn't catch it and glared over at him irritated. He only smiled and shrugged. Kagami took off his jacket and pushed up the sleeves of his shirt, "Let's do this thing." he grinned. Rin smiled and took off her uniform jacket and pushed up her own sleeves.

Rin had seen Kagami play on the tapes Kuroko had up in the attic from their days at Seirin and knew full well how good he was. However, in this case, she had the advantage. While she had seen him play, Kagami had only heard about her plays from Kuroko. He didn't know what she could do unless he saw it himself. Her grey ash colored eyes studied him quietly, wondering how she should start. Rin closes her eyes and concentrates.

Kagami smiles and rushes at her, expecting to take her by surprise. His hand reached out to grab the ball but his fingers closed on thin air, his eyes widening in surprise. Rin had disappeared into thin air.

The sound of footsteps behind him made him whirl around, his eyes going wide as Rin suddenly materializes on the other side of the court. She takes a glance behind her and smiles before jumping up in the air and with a flick of her wrist, the ball went soaring towards the hoop. Kagami expected the ball to go in with a swish but instead, it bounced off the rim harmlessly. Rin fell onto her butt as the ball hit her in the forehead, knocking her backwards.

Kagami laughed and walked over to her, giving her a hand. She took it gratefully and he pulled her back up, "That didn't go as planned." she murmured under her breath and received another laugh from the red head.

"That was an upgraded form of Kuroko's misdirection. He taught you that didn't he?" Kagami smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Rin pushed his face away from hers annoyed, "Yeah. He's really an amazing person." she sighed and ran a hand through her short black locks of hair.

"I guess he is…" Kagami said sadly and Rin looked up at him.

She sighed and punched him in the gut, "Stop being so sad. Let's hurry up and play."

"You're on you little brat!" Kagami grinned and picked up the ball. He dribbled down the court pass her and dunked the ball into the hoop with a shout.

Rin laughed and chased after him. They went back and forth for the next few hours. Rin never made a single shot, the ball always bounced off the rim. Kagami was really helpful, pointing out different ways to shoot and what she needed to improve on.

Rin fell to her knees in front of the redhead, out of breath from all the running. Kagami smiled and patted her head, "Good work." His cellphone rang and they looked at each other knowing exactly who it was. Kuroko.

"Yes?" he answered. A moment later he held the phone away from his ear as Kuroko started yelling at him through the phone. Rin smiled, listening quietly to their conversation. She couldn't hear Kuroko very well but by reading Kagami's facial expressions and listening to his responses, it was easy to know what Kuroko said and wasn't good.

Kagami hung up on Kuroko midsentence and sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Sorry. We'll have to continue another time. I have to go pick Kuroko up from the daycare."

"That's fine. I'll catch a cab back. Have fun on your _date_." Rin smirked and watched Kagami's face go red.

"It's not a date! We're just meeting up with our team from Seirin and GoM." he said rather quickly and Rin laughed, patting him on the shoulder.

"Whatever you say lover boy."

"IT'S NOT A DATE!"

* * *

The next few days were rather slow. Kuroko had started accompanying Kagami to pick her up to make sure they didn't go do anything against his orders like last time and Shiro had started to get suspicious of why she was missing practice. Rin avoided the others during lunch by eating with Suzuki and Suzuko under the tree. Finally, Kuroko permitted her to go to practice a week after that night Akira found her and took her to the hospital.

Rin walked into the gym for practice to find everyone crowded around the coach. She smiled and tried to join them without being noticed but failed miserably when a familiar blonde haired boy's ash-mauve eyes locked onto her.

"RIN!" the excited shout startled the disguised girl as well as a few other boys. Suddenly, Rin was tackled by Tashiro Okimura and brought into a warm hug from the tall boy. The other boys laughed and pulled him off her much to Tashi's protests.

"Great to see you could join us Mr. Komatsu. Are you aware you have skipped practice for a week now?" the coach asked, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at her sternly. Rin nodded looking down at her feet and for the first time, the coach smiled and laughed, "It's great to have you back Rin."

He turned and looked over at the group of boys, "Now, back to what I was saying. We will be doing a short practice game to determine who will stay in third string and who will rise up in rank to the second string. On the blue team will be Gonshiro Tomioka as center, Hakuseki Santo as point guard, Yoshio Ochida as shooting guard, Kenko Kishi as power forward, and Koan Tsutsmida as small forward.

"On the red team wearing jerseys will be Tetsu Hashi as center, Shinkichi Furusawa as point guard, Isamu Tabuchi as shooting guard, Tashiro Okimura as power forward, and finally-" everyone crossed their fingers, hoping it would be them, "Rin Komatsu as small forward." the coach finished, putting his clipboard back down.

* * *

Rin sighed, slipping the blue and white jersey over her head. It was hard to believe after missing so many days, the coach would allow her to join in a practice game. There were many others who deserved to play in the game than she did. Some of the boys chosen seemed to think so as well. Tashiro wandered over and smiled down at her, "Hey, you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just don't think it is fair." she murmured quietly.

"That you got picked when you missed a week?" he sighed and she nodded. Tashi looked down at her for several moments before smiling and ruffling her hair much to her protest. She glared up at him but stopped when she saw his smile and looked away.

"Don't worry about it too much Rin. He has a reason for putting you in the practice game."

Rin looks up at him confused but nodded making him smile and ruffle her hair again, "Good boy."

She pouted and pushed his hands away, making him laugh. Tashiro sighed and slipped on his own jersey before leading Rin over to the court where the others stood around getting into position to start. Gonshiro and Tashiro stood at the half court line on either side of the coach.

"You ready to get your ass kicked?" Gonshiro asked, glaring at him.

"You'll be the one getting your ass kicked Tomioka." Tashi replied cooly.

"Let's do this." the two boys said together as the basketball was tossed up into the air.

Gonshiro grabbed the ball and started running even before his feet touched the ground, making Tashiro stumble backwards in surprise. Shinkichi ducked in and smacked the ball from his hands, passing it back to Tashiro who caught it easily but found himself double teamed by Yoshio and Kenko. Rin noticed then that no one was actually taking her seriously. No one there thought she could do anything to help. She'd prove them wrong. If there was one thing she learned over in America, it was to never give up.

Tashiro spots Rin and sees she's open but passes to Tetsu instead who dribbles down the court. Koan was quick to react and appears right in front of him, blocking him from going any further. Thinking quick, he passes to Isamu who feints a shot but passes to Rin. Gonshiro suddenly barrels into her side hard, knocking the breath out of her. He catches the ball and looks down at her, towering over her like a skyscraper, "You should hurry up and quit. You're just a waste of space." he said and passed to Koan.

"Bastard…" Rin growled under her breath and got to her feet, running towards Koan. She used misdirection as he jumped to shoot, appearing in front of him and startling him enough to make him miss the shot. The ball bounced off the rim into Rin's hands. The moment it touched her palm, it shot away like a bullet to the other side of the court.

Isamu catches it and dunks the ball into the hoop, giving Rin a thankful smile. The entire game went on like this, back and forth. All Rin could do was pass to her teammates and watch as they scored. It wasn't enough though and their team lost. On her way out of the gym, Gonshiro stopped her.

"What a pity. Who knew Teiko would let such a weak player join the team." he smirked. Rin ignored him and continued pass him only to be stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"You better quit now before you get hurt." he warned. Rin's hands clenched into fists by her side and she turned around, her fist coming up to punch him in the face. He caught it easily and pulled her forward, wrapping an arm around her waist with her back pressed against his chest. He grinned and whispered quietly in her ear, "Quit. It will be easier." Rin twisted around and tried to get away and he let her go.

Rin walked out of the gym, unaware of five pairs of eyes following her every move who had heard and seen everything.

* * *

Okay, yes this chapter was a little bland. Nothing really major happened. I can't seem to be able to write out that last part with the game like I imagined it in my head. I will hopefully get better at it but for now, please bear with me. Anyways, yay! Two chapters up in two days. I am feeling quite accomplished right now. Thank you for everyone who reviewed last chapter. You guys gave me the motivation to get this chapter up today. Thank you for your support. ^^

Please follow or favorite if you haven't already and don't forget to review! Good or bad things, I still want to hear your opinions. See you next update but for now, farewell. Sweet dreams everyone! ^^

**Oº°'¨ Sweet Dreams ¨'°ºO**


	12. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Conveniently skip to a week later...

Rin walked down the sidewalk with headphones over her ears, drowning out the crowd around her while she scanned over a map Kuroko had drawn for her with instructions on how to get to the sports store. She originally wanted only to get new wristbands but friday night she had come home to find Number 2 had chewed up her basketball shoes and now had to get a new pair before school monday morning.  
She jumped in surprise as her phone vibrated in her pocket and she sighed, knowing who it was even before she saw the caller ID, "Yes Kuroko?"  
Instead of her cousin's familiar voice, a different voice belonging to a grumpy red head spoke instead, "Kuroko's busy. This is Kagami."  
"Why do you have Kuroko's phone?" she asked as she weaved through the people crowding the sidewalk.  
"Like I said, he's busy."  
"Busy doing what?" she asked suspiciously.  
"Taking a shower, why does it matter?" he asked annoyed.  
"Just wondering. What's up?" she smiled.  
"Kuroko told me to-"  
"Oh, so you're taking orders from Kuroko now?" she giggled.  
"No, I'm not. Like I said, he's busy right now so I'm just relaying the message-"  
"What message?"  
"If you would let me talk then maybe I'll tell you." he waited until she had fallen silent before continuing, "We won't be home till late tonight since we will be with Riku and Hyuuga so Kuroko told me to tell you to go ahead and eat without us. Okay?"  
Rin took a moment to process this as she walked before shrugging and answering, "Okay. Have fun you two. Tell Riku I said hello." she said as she stepped out onto the road to cross the street.  
"Will do. See you later Rin." Kagami said on the other end and she could hear the smile in his voice before he hung up.  
Rin had been caught up with talking to Kagami she hadn't realized she had stepped right out into traffic. The sound of a car speeding towards her caused her head to turn towards the noise heading straight for her. Everything seemed to slow and for a moment she thought she was going to get hit. A hand reached out from the safety of the sidewalk and grabbed her wrist, jerking hard and pulling her back onto the sidewalk into the chest of her rescuer just before the car sped by at the place she had been standing at moments before.  
Rin stayed where she was for several moments, too shocked to move until her rescuer sighed causing her to look up. The first thing she noticed was his eyes drawing her in like a current. Deep navy blue like the sea seeming to consume her entire being as if she had been dragged down under the crashing waves of the sea, taking her breath away. Around the edges of his irises were flecks of teal blue as if someone had sprinkled powder on his eyes. Dark olive colored skin matched with nicely toned muscles met her gaze and it was obvious he played a sport or did some serious exercise. She lifted her gaze to see short blue hair kept short and ruffled on top his head.  
It wasn't until he spoke did she realize who it was, "Rin?!" the man asked in surprise.  
She blinked in confusion before her eyes widened as she took in his entire appearance, "Shou?!"  
Shou's expression changed and he let her go, glaring down at her, "You idiot. What were you thinking walking out into the middle of traffic? Do you know what could have happened if I hadn't been here? You could have been killed."  
Rin bowed her head as he scowled down at her, "Sorry..." she murmured. He glared down at her for a few more moments before his gaze softened and he sighed, "Don't scare me like that, okay? If anything happened to you..." he didn't finish, his cheeks growing slightly darker as he blushed at the words left unspoken.  
She raised her head and looked at him, surprise showing in her expression. He looked down at her before looking away nervously, "Don't look at me like that. I was just worried you wouldn't be able to fulfill your promise is all." he lied. Rin was taken back that he remembered her promise to get up to first string with him by the end of the season. She smiled and nodded.  
"What are you doing out here by yourself anyways? A young boy like you should have someone with him when you go out. Especially since you could be mistaken as a girl with a face like yours.." Shou said, quickly changing the subject.  
"We're the same age you know. And anyways, I'm pretty sure after taking four years of martial arts, I can take care of myself." she grinned and stuck her tongue out at him, "I'm trying to find the sports shop. I have to get some basketball shoes and wrist bands."  
"Do you even know where it is?"  
"..." Silence.  
Shou sighed and shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest, "Guess there's no choice. I'm heading there anyways so I'll walk with you."  
Rin knew he was lying but nodded anyways seeing no problem with the two walking together. Silently, she followed Shou down the sidewalk, sticking close to him so she didn't get lost.  
"Why do you need new basketball shoes?" Shou suddenly asked, casting a glance over his shoulder at her.  
Rin smiled and laughed lightly, making him rather confused, "Why are you laughing? Did I say something funny?"  
"Not at all. Number 2 chewed up my shoes friday night and I need a new pair before monday morning practice."  
"Number 2?"  
"Yeah. He's a Siberian Husky. His name is Kuroko Tetsuya since he looks a lot like my cousin so we call him Number 2 for short."  
"Ah. Cool." he nodded, not sounding like he really thought it was cool.  
The two fell silent again as they walked. After a few minutes, Shou broke the silence again, "Wait here for a moment." he said before disappearing into the crowd of people. Rin sighed and took a seat on a nearby bench while she waited for him to come back.  
Shou returned holding two cones of ice cream, one chocolate, one vanilla. He held them both out to her, "I didn't know what you liked so I bought 1 each so you can pick." he murmured, a little embarrassed.  
Rin blinked at him in surprise before taking the vanilla, "Thank you. I'll pay you back later." She murmured.  
"No, you won't. It's my treat. Just accept it." he sighed and took a seat next to her. She didn't say anything, making a note to pay him back later anyways and took a bite of the ice cream cone, her eyes widening.  
"Delicious..." she murmured.  
Shou looked at her out of the corner of his eye and let a rare smile come to his lips before taking a bite of his own ice cream. She caught the smile and felt a smile come to her own lips before continuing to eat her ice cream in silence. After they finished, they stood to continue on their way but Shou stopped her.  
Before she could react, he hook a finger under her chin and made her raise her head to stare up at him. Shou leaned down, their faces a mere inch or two apart. His thumb traced her cheek before pulling back showing a bit of vanilla ice cream on his thumb which he licked off with a teasing grin. Rin's cheeks flared red and he smiled, "What? Did you think I was going to kiss you or something?"  
"No, of course not. I could have wiped it off myself..."  
"What fun would there be in that?"  
Rin stuck her tongue out at him, "Meanie."  
"Come on." he smiled and started walking again. She quickly threw away her ice cream cone wrapping and ran after him to catch up.

* * *

The two young teenagers made it to the sport shop after a few minutes, located on a corner of the street across from an arcade and in between a candy store and library. Shou led the way inside, holding the door open for a little girl and her mother who were on their way leaving. The mother thanked him as she passed and hurried out with the excited little girl clutching a bag to her chest.  
Rin smiled and clasped her hands together and held them to her chest, tilting her head to the side, "Aw, how sweet. Even the mean bully has manners."  
"Shut up..." Shou growled and walked past her, walking over to the counter. He rang the bell on the counter and almost instantaneously, the sound of boxes crashing to the ground came from the back room. Shou and Rin exchanged looks before the door burst open. Rin had to hold back a laugh at the sight.  
Shiro stood there in the doorway, covered in feathers and pieces of styrofoam indicating the boxes they had heard falling probably were him. While Rin could contain her laughter, Shou didn't seem to care and laughed outright, holding his sides as he pointed at Shiro mockingly, "Hahaha, you look like a giant chicken!"  
Shiro rolled his eyes and shook himself, most of the feathers falling off but some stayed stuck to his clothing and in his hair, "What do you want Shou?" the boy asked sounding grumpy, much unlike Shiro' s usual self.  
Shou shrugged and looked pointedly over at Rin, "Shorty over there wanted to get some stuff and we just happened to meet so I tagged along."  
Shiro looked over at Rin as she glared at Shou and elbowed him hard in the ribs, "I'm not a shorty." she said in defense and Shiro laughed.  
"Sorry Rinicchi, but you are a shorty." Shiro said and received a glare from the person in question. He ignored it and asked, "So, what do you need?"  
Rin sighed, "I need a new pair of basketball shoes and wrist bands."  
"Magic words?"  
"Come on Shiro, I'm not five-"  
"Magic words?" he repeated innocently.  
"Pretty please with a cherry on top?"  
"Puuuurfect." he smiled and waved her over as he walked out from behind the counter and led her to the back where there were row upon row of shoes. Shou tagged along a bit back, taking his time.  
Shiro walked past several different types of sport shoes, past the tennis shoes, past the soccer kleets, finally stopping at basketball shoes, "Take your pick. Everything is magically 30% off just for you."  
"Is this because I said the magic words?"  
"Yep!" he beamed. She sighed and picked up a pair of light blue and white basketball shoes, the color matching Teiko school colors. After a little bit of trying on shoes she suddenly realized something, "Hey Shiro, you're twelve, right?"  
"Thirteen. Why?"  
"Why are you working? Don't you have to be at least fifteen to get a job?"  
"It's not a job if his dad owns the place." Shou cut in, suddenly appearing next to Rin, making her jump. Shiro nodded with his eyes closed as if in deep thought with his arms crossed over his chest.  
"I guess not if you put it that way." Rin sighed and picked out the pair of basketball shoes she wanted that were black and blue, "Now all I need is wristbands." she smiled.  
Shiro was about to say something when the counter bell rang. He sighed and looked over at Shou, "Can you show her where they are? You've been in here enough times to know where they are. I'll come back after I deal with the other costumer." he flashed a friendly smile before disappearing back towards the front of the shop before Shou could protest.  
"What a pain..." he murmured under his breath before starting to walk, not bothering to look to see if Rin was following. She quickly followed him to the opposite corner of the store where there was a few racks full of nothing but wristbands in several different varieties of colors.  
"What color are you looking for?"  
She blinked for a moment before realizing Shou had asked her the question, "Nothing in particular..." she murmured and walked over to one rack with Shou in tow. She quickly looked through the first before moving onto the second. She reached for a pair of wristbands that caught her eye. Shou moved at the same time, picking out a pair of wristbands she didn't get a chance to catch a glance at before Shou was heading towards the check out.  
Shou slipped on the wristbands and Rin followed suit. She smiled and held them up to the sky, examine the look of them on her arm. Sho smiled and took her wrist, holding his arm next to hers, as if comparing them. Rin's was black with a single blue stripe in the middle while Shou's was blue with a black stripe in the middle. "We're not even partners yet but we do make one heck of a pair, huh?"  
That took Rin by surprise and she looked up at him. Catching her gaze, he laughed, "You haven't forgotten have you? When you get up to first string, we'll be partners so you better hurry and climb to the top."  
Rin took a moment to process that before she grinned and nodded, "Just you wait. I'll be up there in no time. After all, I can't be your partner all the way in third string, now can I?"  
"I look forward to it."

* * *

"Hey guys! Wait up!"  
Rin and Shou turned around to see Shiro running out of the shop towards them, waving his arms wildly trying to get their attention. He came to a halt in front of them and paused for a moment to catch his breath before standing up straight and beaming at them, "You two doing anything right now?"  
Rin blinked in confusion and looked up at Shou who shook his head down at her. She turned to Shiro and shrugged, "Not really. What's up?"  
"Want to go to a festival?" Shiro asked excitedly like a child would on Christmas morning.  
"Festival?" Shou asked as the same time as Rin and they smiled at each other.  
"You two are acting wierd..." Shiro commented but shrugged it off and smiled, "Yeah. There's a festival today in the park. I already messaged Haru, Misaki, and Takashi and they said they'll meet us there. So, do you want to come?"  
Rin sighed and smiled at him, "Sure, why not?" Shiro smiled happily and pulled Rin into a suffocating hug.  
"Shiro...! Can't...breathe...!" Rin choked out and the said boy let go immediately. Shou chuckled and shrugged, "Guess I'll come along as well. Not like I have anything to do anyways."  
"Great! Lets go!" Shiro grinned and started pulling the two other players behind him towards the park.

* * *

Yeah, haven't updated in awhile. You're probably tired of hearing excuses but I actually have a few very good reasons why this update is very late. For one, my grandmother fell ill and passed away so I had to go out of the country for her funeral. Also, I've been caught up with graduation preparations so I haven't been able to get online. Now, I have graduated and I thought I finally had some more time on my hands. Or at least that was until my friends suddenly surprised me with a two day badge to the anime convention this Saturday in town to cheer me up. I've been working on my costume next to this chapter so it's been a slow ride.  
This chapter is pretty bland, I admit that but I promise the next chapter will be a little more exciting especially since they're going to a festival and the others are going to be there along with a few special guests.  
Well, please review or whatever. I look forward to seeing everyone next chapter.  
P.S. Here's a little extra for all my followers ^^ When you review, please leave you're favorite pairing either from this story or from Kuroko no Basket and I'll be sure to add a little something extra at the end of the next chapter for the most favored pairing. Until then, I wish you a sweet dream next night.

**Oº°'¨ Sweet Dreams ¨'°ºO**


	13. Chapter 11

The afternoon, pale orange sunlight shone into the gym, the only source of light in the nearly dark room. Rin ran up and down the empty court, dribbling the basketball. It was around five in the afternoon and she had already been practicing by herself for a few hours. Normally, she would be chilling on the couch at her house finishing up homework before school the next morning but after a phone call with her parents ending with her hanging up angrily, she had to let off some steam. Basketball allowed her to do just that and practice at the same time. It was killing two birds with one stone.

She shakes her head and bends her knees about to shoot when the door to the gym opens. Startled the ball droped from her hands and rolled away from her towards the person who had just entered the gym. The familiar blonde smirked and picked up the basketball, "Well, well. What could you be doing here on a Sunday afternoon Rin?"

Rin rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, "Clearing my head. Practicing helps me think. What are you doing out here Haru?"

He ignored the last question and asked another question, crossing his own arms over his chest, "May I ask what you might be thinking about?" When she didn't answer he chuckled and shrugged, "Can I practice with you at least?"

"It's a free world, isn't it?"

"If you say so." Haru shrugged and dropped his adidas sports bag next to hers before walking up in front of her.

"What are you doing?" Rin asked confused. She had meant he could practice by himself.

"Practicing. What does it look like?"

Rin just stared at him still genuinely confused. He just sighed, "You want to make first string right? In order to sharpen your skills it helps to have someone to practice with."

"I guess but no offense, why you? I mean, shouldn't I practice with others at my level?"

"If you always practice with people at the same level as you, you won't get any better nor will they. You want to get into first string so how about practicing with me, a first string player?"

"Fine whatever you say co-captain." Rin rolled her eyes, "Let's get this over with."

She started dribbling the ball in place for a few moments, studying Haru and daring him to make a step forward. He smirked and did just that. Before his foot even lifts all the way off the ground she's moving down the court. Haru is just as quick and catches up to her in no time.

"Too slow." He murmurs, his breath hot on the back of her neck, catching her by surpise. Haru took the chance to slip his hand forward, his fingertips reaching towards the ball to push it out of her grasp. Rin passes the ball between her legs and catches it in her opposite hand. She dribbles it close to her side, using her other arm to block him from trying that again.

For the next ten minutes, neither could score a single point. Every time she had tried to shoot, he was there to stop her in her tracks no matter which way she turned. Rin managed to keep a good hold on the basketball most the time though Haru did get the upper hand occasionally. Standing on the free throw line, she suddenly catches an idea and smiles. Rin keeps the ball away from him but close enough that it would look easy to push out of her grasp. She casts a glance over her shoulder at the goal, making sure it's location was drilled into her mind.

Rin breathed in and out, concentrating at quieting her breathing and heart beat that had picked because of the two running around so much. Haru sees the opening and makes a move to grab the ball. She swerved around ducking below his arm. He swerves around to stop her but she had disappeared without a trace. Haru looked up at the goal and saw the net just barely move as if a basketball went in. The basketball materialized before his eyes coming out of the net as did Rin who stood next to the goal, a smile on her lips.

Haru smiled and shook his head, putting his hands up in the air in defeat, "Looks like you win. That was a cool trick you just did there."

Rin blinked in confusion, "Trick? What are you talking about?"

Haru blinked at her before laughing lightly, "Haha. Very funny. You know what I'm talking about. The way you and the ball disappeared and reappeared as if by magic…" he trailed off at her beyond confused expression, "You mean to tell me you don't know what I'm talking about?"

Rin shook her head and smiled, "You just stood there while a scored. You didn't just let me win, did you?" she asked.

"You won fair and square Rin." He sighed and ran a hand through his locks of blonde hair. Rin smiled happily and suddenly jumped at him, throwing her arms around him and giving him a big hug. Haru blinked in confusion as she pulled back, "What was that for?"

"For practicing with me. I admit I was against it at first but it ended up being a lot of fun. Thank you Haru." She smiled at him and he smirked. Before she had time to process what was happening, he had stepped closer to her, close enough she could feel his warm breath against her skin.

Haru tilted her head up slightly to meet his gaze, "You're a talented player Rin. It's a shame that the coaches are wasting your skills by putting you in third string." He moves his face closer to hers, a mere inch from her own, "So how 'bout it? Do you want to join the first string as a regular?"

Rin stared up at him, her eyes wide at his sudden boldness. His bright, amber eyes burned holes through her gray ash gaze, making her stomach flutter nervously. She really hoped he couldn't hear her heart racing in her chest. She sighed and pushed his hand away, moving back a few steps, hoping her face wasn't as red as she thought it was, "I have to decline."

The answer had taken him by surprise and Haru blinked at her his turn to look confused "What do you mean? People would kill for an opportunity like this."

Rin sighed, "Well, I'm not 'people'. I'm me."

"At least take some time and think about it. This is a big opportunity." Haru said. Before she could say anything else, he was gone out the door leaving Rin to her thoughts.

You guys might have noticed I deleted a chapter and had another edited. The festival idea I originally had just wasn't working out so I edited it out. Anyways, thank you for your votes. The winner was Haru x Rin. These are the tally's.

Haru x Rin: 4

Shou x Rin: 3

Shiro x Rin: 1

Akashi x Kuroko: 1

Thank you for your participation. Hope you guys liked the chapter. It wasn't anything really fluffy or romantic but I hope you still enjoyed reading it. Review, Favorite, or Follow if you haven't already.


	14. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Rin lay on her stomach up in her room, finishing up homework Mrs. Red had assigned due the following day. It had been a week since she had turned down Haru's offer and she was still trying to figure out what she should do. She wanted to become a first string player with her own strength but...wouldn't it be easier to just accept his offer?

_"...Do you want to join first string as a regular?"_

Haru's words rang in her head for the hundredth time since their little practice session in the gym. She sighed and turned over onto her back, Mrs. Red's assignment now forgotten. She couldn't concentrate when his words kept nagging at her in the back of her mind.

Rin stared up at the ceiling for what seemed like hours when something caught her eye. Her room was now box free and her belongings crowded every nook and cranny in the room. Among them were several pictures in frames, some hanging up her wall while others sat on her nightstand. A picture hanging up on the wall with a simple silver frame was what had caught her attention. The picture had three people in it: two boys and a younger version of her when she was back in America standing in front of a beach late in the evening.

The boy on her left with his hand resting on her shoulder looking like he was going to strangle the person behind the camera has lighter black hair than her own, smoothed back with a few stray strands hanging into his eyes. His eyes are a deep piercing blue that held your attention, a lighter shade than Shou's but still darker than a normal navy blue. In the picture, he's fifteen but the picture had been taken two years ago so he's seventeen now. The boy's name was Shin Komatsu, her older brother who stayed behind in America with their parents.

The boy on her right with his hand resting on her shoulder and his arm around Shin's shoulders was Yuki Komatsu, Shin's twin. Although the two were twins, they were very different in both appearance and personality. For one, Yuki had a happier expression on his face and seemed to be laughing at Shin. Honey blonde shoulder length hair parted in the middle with bangs falling loosely over his left eye frames his face. His eyes were much like Rin's but instead of grey, they were blue. Like Shin, he would be seventeen by now.

Rin remembered the day the picture had been taken. A passerby took the picture upon Yuki's request. Shin had got mad at the guy because he couldn't figure out how to work the camera, hence the reason why he was giving the camera a murderous look. Yuki had found the scene to be quite amusing and afterwards, Shin had turned his anger on him and tackled him. The two went down in the sand, rolling and laughing as they went.

At one point, their play fight ended up in the water, splashing around at eachother. Shin and Yuki splashed Rin who was standing on the sand, watching. She got pulled into the play fight and ultimately, the three of them ended up soaked. She still remembered the furious look on her mother's face when they came home like that. A smile came to Rin at the thought.

The three had always been close to the point they were inseparable. Yuki was fun to be around with that carefree air about him that made you feel happy just standing next to him. Shin on the other hand was the protective older brother that tried to be responsible and keep the three out of trouble but was ultimately the one that came up with ideas that put them right in the middle of trouble. Shin had stayed behind in America since he had to fulfill his responsibilities as heir to the family name and follow in their father's footsteps. Yuki had originally held that position as first born but-

The door bell downstairs rang, shaking her from her thoughts. Rin sighed and pulled herself off the bed, walking down the stairs to answer the door since Kuroko and Kagami were at work still. Number 2 sat in front of the door, waiting patiently for her to open the door. She patted the siberian husky on the head as she walked past, pulling the door open.

Standing on her doorstep was Tetsu, Tashiro, and Kenko from the third string basketball team along with Suzuki. She hadn't talked with Kenko much but she knew he was a close friend of Tashiro's. She looked at the three in confusion, wondering why they were here. Wait- how did they know where she lived?!

"Told you this was where he lived." Suzuki smiled over her shoulder at the boys who just shrugged in response.

"What are you doing here? How did you even know where I lived?" Rin asked.

"Kidnapping you of course." Tashiro chuckles like it was obvious, ignoring her other question. Rin's eyes widen and she starts to back up, shaking her head. The boys exchange grins that could only mean trouble.

"No, no, no. Go kidnap somebody else. I have homework for Mrs. Red to finish for tommorow." she says, about to close the door but before she can, Tetsu puts his foot in the doorway to stop it before it closes. He pushes the door open easily with a grin.

"Sorry Princess, homework is going to have to wait. You're coming with us wether you like it or not." Tetsu sighs and picks Rin up, putting her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Tetsu! Let me down! You know how I feel about heights." Rin protested, wiggling around to get free but to no avail. Her captor only chuckled and shook his head. Rin looked over at Suzuki, "Suzuki, won't you help?" she asked and pouted when Suzuki shook her head with a "No can do."

Tashiro smiled up at Rin, "It's only because you resisted Rin-chan. Just cope with it for now, okie dokie?" he winked with a smile. Rin groaned and stopped struggling, seeing it was no use no matter how hard she tried.

"Come on. We better get going before it gets late." Kenko sighed, just watching as the scene played out.

* * *

Rin has been kidnapped by her friends. I wonder where they'll take her? ^^ The next few chapters should be up really soon since I have a clear idea of what will be happening in them. This chapter was going to be longer but I decided to cut it in half since I felt it was too long.

Well, until next time then. Please review, favorite, and follow if you haven't already.


	15. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"You can put her down now. We're here." Suzuki smiled, coming to a stop outside a old building lit up with bright flashing neon signs of a bowling ball in front of three bowling pins, marking the place as a bowling alley. Tetsu did as told, setting Rin down so she was standing back on her own two feet again, looking rather annoyed with the situation.

"Don't worry too much about it. They did the same thing to me before we got to your house." Kenko sighed, shaking his head with a smile. Tetsu and Tashiro simply shrugged while Suzuki cast a apologetic smile at him, none of them looking the slightest bit sorry. Rin murmured something under her breath that only Kenko could hear, a smile coming to his face as he tried hard not to laugh.

"What was that Rin? I didn't quite catch that last part." Suzuki smiled sweetly at the two but her eyes and tone told another story entirely. Cold and icy, her piercing gaze stared daggers into them and her tone sent a shiver down their spines. Even Tashiro fell quiet which was saying something since it didn't seem like he could ever stop talking for very long.

"Nothing Suzuki. I didn't say anything." Rin said with a shrug, not meeting the ice queen's gaze.

"We came here to bowl so let's hurry up and bowl." Tetsu said, attempting to change the subject. It seemed to work because Suzuki turned on her heel and walked inside. The other four exchanged looks before following her inside quietly.

* * *

Suzuki drops a pale red ball into Tetsu's hands and smiles at him, having calmed down by then, "Here you are. You're up first."

"Aye, aye Captain." he sighed and walked up to the lane, aware of the four sets of eyes staring holes into his back. He quietly lifted the ball up to his chest before bringing it back behind him and making a sweeping motion, releasing the ball. Tetsu didn't even look as the ball shot down the lane, knocking all ten pins down.

"Who's next?" he grinned, taking the second bowling ball and looking around at the others. Tashiro is the first to respond, jumping up eagerly and taking the ball. Tetsu sat down next to Rin, watching the scene unfold. Tashiro was attempting to copy Tetsu but released the ball too early and it ended up falling onto his foot before rolling slowly into the gutter.

The four watched as Tashiro danced around, holding his injured foot; trying hard to contain their laughter. Rin got up nonetheless and helped him back to his seat before retrieving a bag of ice from the concession stand. "Well, that was a good try." Ren smiled, handing the bag to him as she sat back down between Tetsu and him.

"Shut up." Tashiro murmured, not at all happy with the situation. She laughed lightly and patted him on the shoulder, "Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your ego. Oh wait, the bowling ball already did that for me."

He glared at her without a single hint of amusement in his eyes but it seemed to make the others laugh even more. Suzuki sighed in disappointment, "Come on. At least try to be a challenge for me. Now, let me show you how it's done." she smiled, clearly mocking them.

After taking one of the two bowling balls they were using, she made sure her alignment was the way she wanted it before she brought the ball back and swung the ball, adding a little twist on it. The ball went blazing down the lane faster than they could process, knocking all ten pens down with a sound loud enough to draw the attention of the other people in the bowling alley.

"Show off." Kenko coughed as he walked up to the lane and she walked back towards her seat. Suzuki cast a pleased look over at Tetsu who only shook his head in response. Rin wasn't paying very much attention as Kenko bowled, getting an easy strike. Before she knew it, it was her turn.

Rin wasn't very fond of bowling but she didn't hate it either. She just didn't see the point in it. So, when it came her turn, she stood up and walked slowly towards the lane, picking up a ball as she passed, not bothering to notice which one she chose. She stood directly in the middle, looking down at the ten pens lined up in the shape of a pyramid. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and just rolled the ball down the lane...or at least that's what was supposed to happen.

Instead, the moment the ball touched the ground, it seemed to vanish into thin air. Her eyes widened, staring at the place where the ball had disappeared. She couldn't move, too shocked to look away. Tashiro was the one to break the silence, "Where did it go?" he asked just before a noise at the end of the lane brought their attention to the ten pens, being knocked over with nothing touching them. The ball reappeared at that moment and Rin shook her head, wondering if she was hallucinating.

"Whoa...Now THAT was pretty cool." Suzuki said, clapping in delight at her new found competition. Rin wasn't able to move even after the knocked over pins were swept away and replaced by a new batch, all ready for the next person. A hand touched her shoulder, pulling her out of her thoughts.

She looked up over her shoulder at Tetsu, a worried look on his face, "Hey...Are you okay? You don't look to good."

Rin blinked a few times and looked back at the pins for a moment before she sighed and shook her head, gathering her thoughts, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just...Never mind." she murmured and walked past him, taking her seat again.

Tashiro looked at her like a kid opening presents on Christmas morning, "You have to teach me how you did that Rin." he grinned and nudged her softly.

"Hm? Yeah, sure..." Rin murmured but wasn't paying much attention. Kenko cast a worried look over at her but she failed to notice. They played for a little longer before Suzuki decided it was getting late and that they should head back home. The game ended with a two way tie between Kenko and Suzuki with Tetsu two points behind. Tashiro lost miserably and after a vote(mainly Suzuki), they decided he had to boy lunch for the four others the next day at school.

"That was fun. We don't get to hang out like this very much with the five of us since Rin and Suzuki are always hanging around the prodigies." Tashiro spoke up on their way back home. The two said girls apologized, earning a laugh from the three boys.

"Don't worry about it. We understand. It's not that big of a deal." Tetsu shrugged, folding his arms behind his head as they walked, "So...Suzuki. I heard you're going to be the new manager of the basketball club, right?"

"Hm?" Suzuki looked back at him, "Oh, yeah. I already turned in the application. Mrs. Red kept nagging at me to join a club this year so I decided on the basketball team."

"What about you Rin?" Kenko asked, walking next to the said disguised girl.

"What about me?"

"Haru offered you a spot on the first string team as a regular and you turned it down. What's up with that?"

"WHAT?!" three shouts came at once, right in her ear.

"Not so loud you guys. I'm standing right here." Rin mumbled but her words were drowned out by Suzuki, Tetsu, and Tashiro.

"Rin! Why would you do that?!"

"It's a big opportunity!"

"How could you turn down such an offer?!"

The questions and voices blurred together, until it became that she could no longer even hear their words. Suzuki noticed Rin was trying to say something and smacked the other two on the back of the head to quiet them.

She sighed and shook her head, "I did decline but Haru told me to take some time and think about it first..."

"What's there to think about? This is your chance to make it big Rin. I'm touched that you care so much about our feelings but it's your life. DO what you think is right." Tashiro smiled and nudged her encouragingly.

Tetsu sighed and shook his head before smiling, "For once I agree with the chatterbox. Stop worrying about others and do something for yourself for a change. Whatever you choose to do, just know we'll have your back."

* * *

Later, Rin sat curled up in a chair in the living room; back inside the comforts of the apartment. Even after everything, she still couldn't come to a decision. She had taken a shower after she got home to clear her head but it wasn't helping matters very much. Her cell phone sat on the coffee table, waiting for her to make a decision already.

Finally, she sighed and picked up the phone. Scrolling through her contacts she found Haru's name. Quietly, Rin pressed the call button and held the phone up to her ear. Not a moment passed before Haru answered.

"Haru Shimuzu." greeted a tired voice on the other end. Maybe calling so late at night wasn't such a good idea.

"Hey Haru, it's Rin..." she murmured, pushing a few strands of midnight black hair behind her ear nervously.

"Rin, hey." Haru said, his tone lighter and somehow warmer now that he knew who it was, "We just got back from the game. Shou wanted to celebrate so we're at my place eating take out. Want to come over?"

"Thank you but I ate with Suzuki and a few other friends earlier." she laughed lightly.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I was actually calling about the offer you mentioned the other day. Is it still open?"

"Of course. I take it you're calling because you've come to a decision."

Rin took a deep breath and spoke the words she had been going over and over in her head, "Haru, I want to join the first string."

* * *

In-between school starting up again in a few weeks, work, and other things, I haven't had that much time to keep up with this story. I will tell you this however: I have very big plans for the upcoming chapters. I won't tell you what's going to be going on in them but I know(or at least, I hope) you will love them.

There will be another update coming up tomorrow(Tuesday) if I can but if I can't, the next chapter will definitely be up before Thursday. I want to say thank-you to everyone that has reviewed, followed, and favorite in the past and I can't wait to hear from everyone again.

**Oº°'¨ Sweet Dreams ¨'°ºO**


	16. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

_"Haru, I want to join the first string."_

Rin sighed as she recalled the conversation with Haru about his offer a few days ago. It had taken some consideration but the coach finally caved into his requests and allowed for Rin to transfer into the first string. This was where it became complicated. Although she was in first string, the coach would not allow her to join the regulars just yet and play in games. He only agreed to put her in first string because Haru asked but it was obvious from the look he gave her earlier in the morning that he was even against that.

After class ended, she changed and walked down to the gym where the first strings practiced apart from the other players. She quietly pushed the gym door open and walked inside. The gym was larger than the one she had practiced in until now and was easily in the best condition. She stopped in the doorway for a moment to take a deep breath before walking over to the large group of players in the center of the court where the coach was shouting out instructions for practice.

"Now, about the new addition to the first string. I imagine you've heard the rumors by now that we're receiving a new player after the season already started. Well, let me put your minds at rest. Yes, we do have a new player directly from the third string. Is Rin Komatsu here yet?" the coach asked, peering down at a clipboard before looking up and scanning the faces of the players gathered around him.

"Here." Rin said, pulling the coach's attention towards her. The few players near her jumped in surprise, having not noticed her presence even though she was standing right next to them. The coach rolled his eyes and nodded, "Rin will be joining us at practice for now. He's unfamiliar with our practice so I need a volunteer to show shorty the ropes and keep an eye on him so he doesn't hurt himself." A few chuckles came from the other players when the coach made note of her height.

"I'll do it." Rin looked over her shoulder up at a pair of dark silver eyes staring down at her from underneath raven black bangs hanging into the face of none other than Tatsuya Ishiyama, captain of the basketball team.

"Now that is taken care of, hurry and get to practicing. We don't have all day." the coach grumbled, taking his clipboard and shooing them away. The players split off to do their own thing to practice. Tatsuya sighed and looked down at her, "So, you're name's Rin, huh?"

Rin nodded and he smiled, "You can call me Tatsu. How did you get on the first string? Your numbers seem low to me." he commented but before she could respond, he began giving her orders on what to do for practice. His methods were harsh but she could see reason in them. By time practice ended, she was exhausted to the point she could barely stand on her own two feet. At one point, he had the bright idea to test her strengths when up against a taller opponent. The guy she was paired up with wasn't as tall as Misaki but he was still really tall. He wiped the floor with her immediately but even though she was losing, Rin didn't stop trying.

The guy dribbled down the court towards her and for a moment, she just stood still. Fingertips brushed against his palm and she suddenly appeared right next to him, tapping the ball out of his hands. Taken back in surprise at her sudden appearance, he lost his footing. On the sidelines, Tatsuya smiled as if he knew something no one else did. SHe managed to make a point but she still lost miserably.

Tatsuya handed her a water bottle as she sat down on the bench, clearly exhausted. She took it gratefully with a smile and he turned his attention back tot he other players practicing, "You're Kuroko Tetsuya's cousin aren't you?"

Rin nearly choked on the water and started coughing. His question had taken her by surprise. Not many knew who her cousin was, "How did you know?"

"What you did just there, controlling your presence I mean, he did that too. He shifted the player's attention somewhere else during games and because of that, he seemed to disappear. What you did was different but it was most certainly very similar." he sighed.

"Haru said something like that earlier but I don't know what you mean. I didn't disappear and reappear. That's impossible." she sighed and recalled how the bowling ball had disappeared the other day. Was that what he meant? But how could that happen anyways if she wasn't even aware of it.

"Komatsu! Get over here!" the coach called before Tatsu could reply. She sighed and handed the bottle of water back to him before jogging over to the coach and Haru, "Yes sir?"

"You win. I'll let you play with the regulars this Saturday. Don't let me down." he sighed, still carrying that displeased look in his eyes like she had done something to make him angry.

Rin's eyes lit up and she smiled, "Thank you very much sir. You won't regret it."

"I better not." he grumbled under his breath as he walked away. Haru smiled and shook his head, "Don't worry about him. He's always like that. There is a condition you have to meet to play though. Since you're only just starting out in first string, the five of us are going to have to get you into shape and fast."

"Five?"

"Of course. After practice, you're going to have an extra three hours afterwards with one of us every night. Today's Monday so, tonight Shou will be practicing with you. Tuesday is with Misaki, Wednesday is with Takashi, Thursday is with Shiro, and Friday with me. If you don't attend, you can't play. That's the coach's condition."

Rin sighed and nodded reluctantly, already Imagining what they had in store for her. Five days, three hours each day added onto the two-hour practice they already had. Knowing Shou, she couldn't imagine he had agreed so willingly to such an arrangement.

"Don't worry Rin, we'll shape you up in no time." Misaki smiled reassuringly, appearing behind her with he other three. Shiro grinned and nodded in agreement. The only not smiling was Shou who looked like he wanted nothing to do with it as he grumbled, "You better not waste my time runt."

* * *

So, the next few or so chapters will be the practice sessions between the guys. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to hearing back from you guys. Next chapter will be up tomorrow if I get around to it. So, cross your fingers ^^ See you next time.

**Oº°'¨ Sweet Dreams ¨'°ºO**


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